da poker： The end was not what had been anticipated, especially the hasty manner inwhich it arrived. Ultimately, it did not matter as Pakistan cricket bade ateary, emotional farewell to Inzamam-ul-Haq
Osman Samiuddin in Lahore12-Oct-2007
Inzamam -ul-Haq departs the playing field for the final time•AFP
The end was not what had been anticipated, especially the hasty manner inwhich it arrived. Ultimately, it did not matter as Pakistan cricket bade ateary, emotional farewell to Inzamam-ul-Haq at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.The board renamed an enclosure in his honour and a brief visualpresentation of his achievements was shown on the big screen. As he saidgoodbye to “my boys”, his successor as captain, Shoaib Malik, broke down.He wasn’t alone.Javed Miandad’s position as Pakistan’s record Test run-scorer staysintact, just, and though Inzamam regretted not breaking it, he had 16satisfied years to look back at.”I wouldn’t say my career was (extraordinary), but I amgenerally happy with it,” said Inzamam with typical modesty. “I wanted tobreak the record but Javed was a much better player than me.Even if I broke it, he has played a huge part in the runs I got.”His last innings lasted all of two balls; a first-ball clip to square legsuggested something special, a second-ball dance, swipe and walk back tothe pavilion told another story entirely. He did it, he said, because hewanted to win a Test for Pakistan one last time.”I wanted to play a memorable knock, I wanted to play aggressively becausethat could have won the match for Pakistan,” he said. “It’s difficult to describe myemotions when I walked in. There was a lot of pressure and though I’ve hita number of deliveries like this for sixes, today in the battle of batsmanand bowler, the bowler won.Because he is now an ex-Pakistani cricketer and there is some previous, hewas asked the question that is asked of all of them: Will you reconsideryour decision to retire? “No chance. The youngsters are doing well, theydid well at the Twenty20. It is the right time to go and I wanted to do itat home.” The youngsters are doing well, theydid well at the Twenty20. It is the right time to go and I wanted to do itat home His last press conference was also in keeping with most of his others,low-key with the standard wit. He was asked about the most difficultbowlers he faced: “Paul Harris was the most difficult…today.” Will he playin the ICL or the IPL, asked another journalist. “I’ll play for both, thanks.” Whowas his favourite captain? “If I say one the other will get angry.”With the humour, there was sadness, at the prospect of not doing what hehas done for the last 16 years. “I am sad. I love this game and have beenin it for so long. I’ve been thinking about my last five days, my lastthree days, my last hour so much. It’s difficult to explain the emotions,but it’s sad.”If the various leagues are out of the equation, there is no immediatecricket on the cards. He is not planning an academy just yet. Instead, hewants to go down the route his first captain Imran Khan did after heretired. Like Imran, Inzamam is building a hospital in Multan, hishometown, which is almost ready. “I have more time now, so I willconcentrate on that.”And on that quiet note, he slipped away from Pakistan cricket.