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KINGSTON, Jamaica - Pakistan cricket skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq today left one-day internationals and captaincy behind when he tearfully bowed out.
Inzamam, 37, dedicated his last match, a 93-run win over Zimbabwe in the World Cup, to coach Bob Woolmer who died suddenly on Monday (NZT).
Inzamam also received an emotional guard of honour from his teammates after his final innings of 37. The gesture brought tears to his eyes.
Only India's Sachin Tendulkar has scored more runs in one-day internationals than 'Inzy' while his former teammate Javed Miandad is the only Pakistani to have score more test runs.
Inzamam requires 20 more to surpass his 8832 and he still intends to play tests.
The premature World Cup exit, having lost to hosts West Indies and embarrassingly to debutants Ireland, would not have been the farewell Inzamam planned. But his highs will outweigh the lows.
"It has been an illustrious career," former skipper Aamir Sohail said.
"He has done wonders for Pakistan cricket and in my opinion it's a sad way to go.
"When you are playing at a World Cup there are so many hopes pinned in our part of the world, people expect great things to happen.
After losing to Ireland it was an ignominious ending (for Pakistan and Inzamam)."
Inzy has been captain since 2003 and is best remembered as a rookie at Pakistan's victorious 1992 World Cup where he scored 60 off 37 balls in the semifinal against New Zealand and then 42 from 35 balls against England in the final.
"He played quality innings and whenever he played a quality innings Pakistan was always on the winning side," Sohail added.
"There is no question mark as far as his batting ability is concerned."
Inzamam's best friend and the man who he calls 'the funniest man in cricket' Mushtaq Ahmed said Inzamam has been an "instrumental force" having developed a young side following the retirements of senior players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Saeed Anwar.
"When he came along as captain he had young boys who didn't have any international experience and he nurtured them, he bred them and brought them up," Mushtaq said.
"He always thought for his team."
Majid Bhatti, a Pakistani cricket writer and broadcaster, believed Inzamam's legacy would be a good one.
"Pakistan will remember him well because he was a star when we won the 1992 World Cup," Bhatti said.
"Youngsters try to copy him. He is a legend all over the cricketing world."
An emotional Inzamam dedicated his last match as captain and as a one-day player to Woolmer following Pakistan's cricket World Cup win over Zimbabwe.
"This game was difficult because we had dedicated it to Bob and we said before the match 'we are down but we will get up and give out 100 per cent effort for Bob'," Inzamam said.
"The last three or four days have been very difficult for all the players and we were under a lot of stress but we came out and we did it for Bob."
Zimbabwe were also knocked out of the tournament, leaving hosts West Indies and Ireland to progress to the Super Eights from group D.
Coupled with Inzamam's decision to retire from one-day cricket and quit as test captain, Thursday proved to be an end of era for the sub-continent side.
"Definitely it's an emotional time for me because I love this game and when you love something it's not easy to leave it," Inzamam said.
"I was emotional anyway but with Bob not being here made me extra emotional."
Inzamam said he had no regrets about walking away from one-day cricket.
"This is a very difficult decision that I've taken because I've played for the last 17 years and to play for Pakistan is a great honour. But I've enjoyed my cricket and it's been a great passion for me," he said.
Factbox on Inzamam-ul-Haq
Age: 37 (born March 3, 1970 in Multan Punjab)
Test debut: v England, Birmingham, 1992. 119 tests, 8813 runs 50.07, 25 centuries, 46 fifties.
One-day internationals: Debut v West Indies, Lahore 1991. 378 matches, 11,739 runs 39.52, 10 centuries, 83 fifties, strike rate 74.16.
A huge man with soft hands. Fine slip catcher. Only weaknesses are his laid-back attitude, suspect fitness and erratic running between the wickets, which delights his fans and frustrates his teammates.
Nicknamed 'The Big Man' and 'aloo' (potato). At a one-day international in Toronto he once marched into the crowd wielding his bat after a spectator shouted through a loudhailer that he was too fat.
*Rated as the best batsman in the world against pace by Imran Khan, his hapless running between wickets is notorious and most dangerous for his partners.
*Part of the team in 1992 which secured the World Cup in Australia, beating England in the final under Imran's captaincy.
*Inzamam belted 329 in probably his most memorable innings in the first test against New Zealand in 2002. It was the second-highest test score by a Pakistani.
*Was dogged by poor form during the 2003 World Cup campaign as he scored just 19 runs from six innings.
*In the fourth test against England at the Oval last August, he refused to lead his men out following the tea interval on the fourth day after his team were docked five runs by the umpires who decided they had tampered with the ball. They were later cleared of that charge by an ICC hearing but Inzamam's action led to the only match forfeiture in the history of test cricket.
*At the 2007 World Cup, his team become the first country to be eliminated from the tournament following defeats by hosts West Indies and a shock upset by debutants Ireland. Less than 24 hours later, coach Bob Woolmer dies and Inzamam retires from one-dayers and resigns as test captain the same day.
*In his final one-day international game on March 21 he makes 37 and completes a 93-run World Cup win over Zimbabwe by holding a straightforward catch off the bowling of Mohammad Yousuf.
- REUTERS
