Cricket board says ex-team manager Raqeeb is lying

Karachi: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Sunday said former team manager Abdul Raqeeb is lying that he had never filed any complaint against the players after the disastrous tour of Australia.

"PCB has completely rejected former team manager Abdul Raqeeb's recent statements in the press where he has denied complaining about player indiscipline. In his recent appearance before the Australian Tour Inquiry Committee, Mr Raqeeb had suggested that they should be heavily fined. It is disappointing to note that Mr Raqeeb has chosen to deny what is already well recorded and documented," PCB said in a statement.

The PCB statement went on to add that Raqeeb had stated in his manager's report that when Younus Khan decided to drop Mohammad Yousuf for the second ODI against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi, it led to a series of events that ultimately forced Younus to resign.

Raqeeb's report clearly mentioned that when Yousuf was told he was dropped on account of his poor fielding he curtly replied ‘I have been fielding like this for the last 7 years'. He (Yousuf) publicly argued with the coach and the resulting disquiet in the team led to the dropping of Shoaib Malek and Umar Akmal. Raqeeb stated that it was in the backdrop of these events that team unity completely broke down and eventually Younus Khan resigned from captaincy. Raqeeb has also admitted that he was unable to take any corrective action and remained totally helpless to arrest the sharply falling team morale during these events," the statement added.