Inzamam confident of good showing in Australia

Inzamam-ul-Haq, Pakistan's captain, confident in the faith the selectors have shown in him by confirming his position for the the next three series, is upbeat about his young side's chances on the forthcoming tour to Australia. Speaking to Wisden Cricinfo, Inzamam said, "These are Pakistan's best players and I feel it is a balanced team. Conditions in Australia are difficult but the way they have performed in the last few months, I am confident that they can perform very well there. I am going there to win, there is no compromise on that."

The composition of the squad has been questioned in some quarters for containing only two specialist openers and the omission of Taufeeq Umar. But both Wasim Bari, the chief selector, and Inzamam defended the decision, arguing that Yasir Hameed, till now the future of Pakistan at one-down, is now to be considered an opener as well. Bari told us: "Hameed can go one-down and as an opener and we are considering him seriously as an opener - if Andrew Hall can work as an opener then why not Hameed? Yasir has opened in ODIs before and we are confident he can do it."

The selection of Kamran Akmal as the sole wicketkeeper, ahead of the discarded Moin Khan and Rashid Latif, may well signal the end of an era for Pakistan behind the stumps. "We want to give Akmal responsibility, we want him to develop now because potentially he is very good and if you give someone like him responsibility he will develop faster," said Bari.

Inzamam played down fears of not having any back-up: "I don't want to put pressure on Akmal by taking an extra keeper, in case he fails. I want to give him a free hand for this tour."

The selectors, said Bari, were impressed in particular with the newcomers Mohammad Khalil and Mohammad Asif. "Khalil, in particular, is a very fit young man, and he impressed in the trials. He gives us variety as a left-armer, and with Asif, who is tall and gets good bounce, we have adequate back-up. But we will miss Shabbir Ahmed and Umar Gul."

The recall of the experienced Shahid Afridi for the Test squad, after a considerable period, also came under scrutiny, with some former cricketers questioning the need for a third allrounder, and one unproven at Test level. "He has developed well recently, especially his bowling," asserted Bari. "I feel he can be called upon to do a job as a utility member for the Tests - he gives an extra option to the captain."

But, as selector and captain pointed out, it will be the younger players who will need to perform and establish themselves on this tour. "Australia are the strongest team in the world - it will be a tough series and they need to fight it out," said Bari. "It's time for players like Farhat and Hameed to step up to the next level."