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Inzamam-ul-Haq on Sunday praised the England team for its fighting spirit that gave the home side a 2-2 draw against Pakistan in the Natwest one-day series.

“England fought hard after being two games down in the series and that is really praiseworthy,” said Inzamam whose side was beaten in the final to one-dayers at Trent Bridge and Edgbaston.

Inzamam admitted that Pakistan were outclassed in the fourth one-dayer but said that his team could have easily been in a position to force a series-winning triumph on Sunday. “I think we could have scored around 230 on this wicket and had we done that it would have been a winning total,” said Inzamam.

The Pakistan captain lost the toss in the one-day series for the first time at Edgbaston and his England counterpart Andrew Straus did not hesitate in asking him to bat first in moist conditions. Pakistan were restricted to 154-9 as all of their batsmen apart from Younis Khan failed against a rejuvenated English attack.

Inzamam said that he was disappointed at the failure to in the one-day series but was quick to add that he and fellow players would now be concentrating on next month’s ICC Champions Trophy in India. “The Champions Trophy is an important tournament for us and I am sure that after some days of rest my players would be fully ready for it,” he hoped.

Inzamam has been named as captain of a 14-man Pakistan squad in spite of the fact that he is facing an International Cricket Council (ICC) hearing following The Oval Test controversy. He has been charged with ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute and could be banned for up to four Tests or eight one-dayers if found guilty. The hearing is scheduled to take place in London on September 27-28. Inzamam and company headed for home from Birmingham on Monday afternoon via Dubai.

Source:The News