'A Great Learning Experience'

Pakistan skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, who has often beencriticised for not being innovative and not asserting his authority in thefield, said the successful tour of India was a "great learningexperience" which helped him to mature as a captain.

"I would say that this tour has helped metremendously and I have gained what I might not have learnt in 50 Tests ascaptain," Inzamam said from Lahore.

"I kept revising the game plan according to thesituation which kept changing probably every over. I made regular changes in thebatting order, kept rotating the fielders and experimented with regular bowlingchanges. It has been a tough but great learning series as a captain," hesaid.

Inzamam's men, who were virtually written off aspushovers when they landed in India, drew the Test series 1-1 and went on torecord a remarkable come-from-behind 4-2 series win in the one-dayers.

The 35-year-old veteran of 100 Tests said his playersdeserved all the praise and they should enjoy the moments after the tensionfilled 50-day tour but should not get overwhelmed with the win.

"The team should enjoy and celebrate these momentsbecause they deserve it. But they can't live on these laurels forever. It's aperformance and result oriented world and we can only survive by maintainingconsistency in our performances.

"We have to keep our feet on the ground, stayhumble and collect all the praise, well-wishes and prayers because these willhelp us in future," Inzamam said.

"I admit that after nearly three months, I slept tension-free and therewere no nightmares haunting me in my dreams. It's a feeling like I am reborn."

He added with laughter: "I don't want to leave thebed. I have hardly laid on it to relax in the last couple of months."

Inzamam's men were not given even a half chance on thetour as the team had no star players, they had been thrashed on the previoustour of Australia, India were a more experienced team playing in their ownbackyard and lastly, Shoaib Akhtar was grounded with a hamstring injury. By allmeans, this was the weakest-ever team to leave the shores.

"It has been an extremely tough and tension-filledseries and only those involved in it can feel those pressures.

"My boys have gone through tough times and nowthey richly deserve the praise, rewards and appreciation because they haveearned it through a dedicated and committed performance," Inzamam, who wonhis first one-day series as captain since taking over charge in October 2003,said.

Inzamam now has drawn Test series against Sri Lanka andIndia while he has suffered defeats against India and Australia. He has wonagainst Graeme Smith's South Africa and Stephen Fleming's New Zealand.

The skipper said when he saw the flood of Pakistan supporters waiting outsidethe arrival lounge at Lahore airport yesterday to catch a glimpse of theplayers, the complete tour film rewound through his mind.

"I was collecting my baggage when Shoaib Malik andRana Naved-ul Hasan left and I could see through the glass that they were beingpatted, garlanded, showered with rose petals and what not.

"It was then I recalled what they had gone throughduring the last two months. I don't think I will do justice if I try anddescribe their efforts in words.

"But I must admit that their efforts would nothave paid dividends had the Almighty not listened to the prayers of oursupporters. It was not a Pakistan cricket team's success but the entire nation'svictory," said Inzamam, who is one of the devout nine players who offerprayers five times a day.

Admitting that yesterday's reception reminded him ofthe welcome the national team got after winning the 1992 World Cup, the Pakistancaptain said he disagreed that his team was weak."It is inexperienced buttalented," he said.

"Nowadays, there is so much cricket being playedthat in six months, you have 50 one-day internationals under your cap. But thatdoesn't mean you have gained experience.

"If you look at my team, I think besides me,Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq and too some extent Mohammad Sami wereexperienced while the rest were raw but talented," he added.

PTI