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Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar said players will not be released for the second round action in the National one-day tournament that begins March 26.

Mudassar said the players would only be allowed to play for their departments in the semifinals and final scheduled for April 2 and 4.

"It is an important camp since our objective is to find at least a couple of good openers. They will be pitted against the best bowlers in the country," he said from Lahore.

But when argued that training camp cannot replace competitive matches, he said: "The players would be playing matches. I think the competition in those games would be good because everyone would try to perform well and impress the selectors."

The decision to not allow players to appear in the second round action will certainly create an uproar by the departments. At least, PIA has already written to the PCB for the release of its players.

"Ten of our players have been invited to attend the camp. If those players are not released, where will we go? I think it is grave injustice," a PIA spokesman said.

Similarly, Habib Bank and Allied Bank, who are in the same pool as PIA, will also be depleted. Habib Bank have five players in the camp while Allied Bank have three.

Mudassar said he was upset and sad with the media and public uproar over defeat in the Asian Test Championship final. He argued that his team had won so many games before the final. "But one defeat seems to have thrown everything out of the window. I have never come through such criticizm during my playing days," he said.

He repeated that his team lost to a better side and added that he briefly discussed with the captain on the reasons of defeat. "But at no stage we regret the decision of leaving out players on whom there is criticizm."

© Dawn