Inzamam slips out of Lahore airport

By Waheed Khan

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and several of his team mates slipped out of Lahore airport without speaking to the media when they returned home from a disappointing World Cup campaign on Wednesday.

The players were escorted from a cargo terminal gate to their waiting cars before driving off with relatives and friends.

The arrival of Inzamam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Rao Iftikhar, Rana Naved, Umar Gul, Imran Nazir, assistant coach Mushtaq Ahmed and media manager, Pervez Mir completed the return of the Pakistan squad which was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup.

"We have been waiting here for over two hours and now we are told they have left by a side door. Even the media manager has not faced us," complained Pakistani reporter Rizwan Ali.

"Why can't they face us and the people?"

The players have endured a traumatic time ever since their coach Bob Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room in Kingston, Jamaica on March 18 and pronounced dead later that day in hospital.

The 58-year-old Woolmer, who police say was strangled, died less than 24 hours after Pakistan were eliminated from the World Cup following a shock defeat by Ireland.

Jamaican police are investigating Woolmer's murder.