Inzi slates security at Pak hotel

[King Tendulkar]

ISLAMABAD, April 12: Former Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq criticised the security at the Jamaican hotel where coach Bob Woolmer was strangled during the World Cup last month. Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room in Kingston, Jamaica on March 18, a day after cricketing giants Pakistan suffered a shock defeat at the hands of minnows Ireland, knocking them out of the World Cup. Inzamam -- who quit as skipper after Pakistan's exit and also announced his retirement from one-day internationals -- said if the murder had happened in Pakistan there would have been a big fuss abroad. "Four international teams were staying in one hotel -- what security arrangements were made for them? There should be an investigation," Inzamam told private Geo television in an interview broadcast Thursday. "We should raise this question" with the World Cup hosts, he added. Two Pakistani policemen -- one of whom led the probe into the 2002 murder of US reporter Daniel Pearl in the southern Pakistan city of Karachi --travelled to Jamaica last week to monitor the Woolmer investigation. Jamaican police have said Woolmer was strangled to death in his room but have yet to identify the killers, despite persistent rumours of a link to match-fixing. Meanwhile, Inzamam said that following their World Cup debacle Pakistan should select an "experienced coach ... a person of good nature" as Woolmer's successor. Inzamam again took responsibility for the defeat, adding the team's performance was dismal. "The team was not bad, but we played badly," he said. He rejected as "unfair" comments by critics that the team went to the West Indies without proper planning for the World Cup, pointing to Bangladesh's victory last week over South Africa. Inzamam said he would not reverse his decision to retire from one-day cricket and would be ready to play under any skipper. "I would have no problem playing under any captain," he said.