A legend in limbo

Inzamam-ul-Haq is in limbo. Behind him lies the vast expanse of a career well constructed. If he isn't Pakistan's greatest batsman, he is close. A World Cup winner, his captaincy tenure, in terms of matches led, is third-longest in Tests and ODIs; only Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram have led Pakistan to more Test wins, and only Imran and Akram to more ODI victories.

In front of him, at 37 and having given up green pyjamas and the captaincy, lies uncertainty. Less than a mile from where he is staying on a short trip to Karachi, in a training camp at the National Stadium, Pakistan cricket is going back to the future and, like the film franchise, it gets less funny each time it does so. The papers say he is not part of any future, yet Inzamam, and many others, believe he still has a future.

Naturally, he is unruffled but as he nears his end the immediate past weighs on him. Bob Woolmer recollections flow, even a hint slipped in that all was not well towards the end. "It does not matter how we worked together, despite everything Bob managed to gel together a young side. He was completely committed and genuine about it."

A laughing acknowledgment too of Woolmer's media savvy: "I never used to read the papers towards the end, but only because I knew that Bob would've read everything on the net and was waiting to tell me."

If it turns out that we don't see Inzamam again, his last moments will have been his lowest. He decided to retire after the loss to Ireland and Woolmer's death, and though it was taken in haste, he does not regret the decision. The thought of not being captain anymore prompts a broad grin: "Thank god." He was always reluctant.

And you just know he doesn't envy Shoaib Malik, whose prospects, Inzamam philosophises, depend as much off the field as on it. "It's one thing I learned: on the field is one thing, but off it is another altogether. Handling the media, the attention, the players, the board, dressing-room spirit: a good captain is one who can handle both well." Like his batting, it is a subtle but powerful tip.

"He's just started and he needs more time. He needs to be supported by the board and by his players. In Pakistan cricket, the real test comes when the team is not doing well. When it is winning, everything is fine. It is when you are losing that the captain has to keep the players together. He has to fight for them."

Though Inzamam is lighter in heart, mood and weight, the immediate future also weighs on him. Details need not be publicised but he feels slighted by moves already afoot to prevent him from adding to his 8813 Test runs: he wants to score 10,000. The selectors refuse to admit this is so; in fact, they stress the opposite. Salahuddin Ahmed, chief of the committee, told Cricinfo at the camp, "He does have a place in the side, subject to fitness. Every player has to be fit, and a fit and in-form Inzamam is an asset for Pakistan." The "subject to fitness" caveat makes Inzamam smile. "I played unfit all these years then?" It's another matter that he doesn't have any way of proving form or fitness before the South Africa series. The domestic season doesn't start till December; he will, he says, turn out for Lahore Gymkhana.

The truth is the decision is not in the selectors' hands. No board official will say publicly, but that they are not keen on Inzamam playing again is clear. The policy to award central contracts was tweaked to include only those players available for both Tests and ODIs, thus excluding Inzamam. No matter that the contracted Danish Kaneria has barely played an ODI recently, that Yasir Arafat is unlikely to make a Test debut, or that Younis Khan isn't keen on playing ODIs anymore. The Indian Cricket League's (ICL) offer to Inzamam, in fact, prompted the board chairman to go as far as to say that any player signing up wih the ICL will not be considered for future Pakistan internationals - a stance harsher on this matter than any other board's.

You can perhaps understand their concern. Inzamam back in the dressing room, unwittingly or otherwise, they feel, will undermine Malik's captaincy. They are also worried that the religiosity they have been keen to dampen is likely to resurface. Inzamam is aware of this fear: he turned down the captaincy initially because he didn't want to handle so many ex-captains. The senior group of players he is close to remain so. Speculation that Mohammad Yousuf might be shunted out of the Twenty20 squad elicits a loyal response from Inzamam: "How can they even think of doing that? It can destabilise the entire team."

But on paper, there is no case. Last year was a moderate one for Inzamam, but only the year before that he touched a rarified peak. And he still averages nearly 60 from his last 20 Tests with over 1600 runs. More importantly, who on earth replaces him? Misbah-ul-Haq, out of the picture for over three years and never really in it in the first place? Faisal Iqbal, who still hasn't convinced entirely? Or Asim Kamal, whose promising career successive selectors have all but ruined?

Thus Inzamam and Pakistan are both in limbo, stranded between whiles. On merit Inzamam is a shoo-in, yet you wonder how his presence will affect the dynamics of a new side. Nothing is clear save this: the Pakistani cricketer who retires with grace, dignity and at an opportune time has not yet set foot on this earth. He has lingered, he has not been allowed to linger; he is pushed, nudged, intrigued out. Often he is just forgotten. Inzamam is on the verge of joining that crowded fraternity. Perhaps he already has.