Cool Inzy is game for repartee and Other News stories......

[MIG]

A few news stories from todays Indian papers in one thread ( dont feel like starting a new one for each )

=============



Cool Inzy is game for repartee
http://cricket.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1036368.cms

Siddharth Saxena

[TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI, FEB 28: Ten minutes to go for the scheduled Pakistan press conference and in the midst of the nervous energy that precedes such events, coach Bob Woolmer ambled in almost unnoticed. Stepping over TV cables, he quietly took his designated place on the podium.

Picking up a pencil, he proceeded to do a head count of the clutch of microphones already trained at the head chair. He then made a little scribble on a notepad, and sat back and waited for his captain to arrive.

It was almost worth the wait.

Behind those perennially-sleepy eyes, Inzaman-ul Haq sports a mischievous glint. Underfire for a pathetic tour Down Under, Inzamam fielded questions at his first meeting with the press on the tour with a rare aplomb and uncharacteristic candour.

Sample some. How did he cope with the calls for his head in the Pakistani media, following the tour of Pakistan, Inzaman, replied, deadpan: "In truth, I never read too many newspapers when I got back. I knew they'd be after me, so I quietly stayed clear of them."

What he thought of the constant flux that is the Pakistan team with a new coach and a newer deputy in less than a year? Inzamam was fluent: "Look, I've been around for 14-15 years in the team now. By now, you get used to these things. If you are in Pakistan, you have to get used to these things."

When someone asked him what did the Pakistan team had to offer this time in terms of an off-the-field controversy, the skipper said: "I suggest, we let the series begin. It'd be slightly difficult to promise something right away. By the time the tour is over, you'd have had your fill."

The focus then turned to Woolmer who was here previously as South African coach. "There were four TV cameras back then. Today I counted 22," he said, adding, rhetorically, "I can't understand what the difference is?" Now we know, what those early notes were for.

Secured squad: The Pakistani cricket team has been accorded Z-plus security, normally provided to heads of states. A DCP and an ACP level officers have personally been monitoring security.