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Untitled Document
 Pakistan team departs for home
25th Mar 2007 19:45 IST
Agencies
The nightmarish World Cup campaign was finally over for the Pakistan team as the players boarded their flight back home via London on Saturday.
The team's departure, however, was preceded by some drama with three of the members being questioned again by Jamaica police in their hotel at Kingston in Jamaica.
Team media manager Pervez Mir said that captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, acting coach Mushtaq Ahmed and manager Talat Ali were interviewed by the police "for about 10 minutes".
Mir rejected suggestions that the three questioned for the a second time, or any other member of the team, could be linked to coach Bob Woolmer's murder.
"There was nothing extra-ordinary. The police just wanted to fill in a couple of blanks," Mir said.
"The three of them were asked general questions about their movements, what they were doing and what time did they go to bed on the night before Woolmer died."
The Pakistan team members had already been questioned and finger-printed on Thursday. Besides, the players also submitted DNA samples on Friday.
Inzamam, who announced his retirement from one-day cricket hours after Woolmer's death, downplayed the latest development.
"It was nothing, just one question, nothing special," Inzamam told a television news channel.
"There have been so many rumours but we are going home tonight and everything is clear. The police said we are free to go home," Inzamam said.
He termed as "absurd" that the three could be in anyway linked to the incident that has sent shock waves around the cricket world.
"Absolutely not, it is absolutely absurd. No way. I am not even going to think about it or even dream about it," Mir said.
"Either the police overlooked something or they wanted to come back and talk a little bit more.
"There is no question that any of the players is linked at all. It's unthinkable, I'm not even going to dream about it, let alone think about it.
"We have to let the police do their job and once there any findings or anything we'll be the first to know, I'm sure."
But Mir admitted that the entire episode has been a "scary" one and the players wanted leave the country as quickly as possible.
The team's physiotherapist Darryn Lifson and trainer Murray Stevenson, both South Africans, as also Pakistan Cricket Board Operations Manager Asad Mustafa have stayed back to help in Woolmer's body being taken back to Cape Town.
The body would remain until after an inquest.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's diplomat from the embassy in Washington, Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, reached Jamaica.
Woolmer was strangled to death in his hotel room on March 18 and speculation was rife that the betting mafia was behind his death.
The Jamaica police have said they were yet to identify a suspect. |
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