Cancellation of Pakistan tour is media’s speculation: BCCI

Vice president of Indian cricket board Rajiv Shukla said that the Indian government did not refuse to permit the Indian team for touring Pakistan and the news of the tour cancellation is a mere media speculation.

He said that the tour at the moment has not been cancelled.

Rajiv Shukla said that the terrorists are nobody’s friends.

He said that 80 Muslims were killed in the Mumbai attacks.

NWFP crowned champions after 28-run win

Resistance from Baluchistan did not last long on the final day of the Pentangular Cup final at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. They began the fifth day needing 38 to beat NWFP, but the tenth-wicket pair of Azharullah and Zulfiqar Babar - who had added 17 runs on the fourth day - could manage only nine more.

Umar Gul, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) captain, struck a timely blow to seal the title. He bowled Azharullah for 5, his first wicket in Baluchistan's second innings. Babar was left stranded on 21. It ended a tense, low-scoring final and denied Baluchistan a remarkable win: the province has historically been the weakest in terms of cricket talent in Pakistan and this side was made up of a number of guest players invited from around the country, including captain Misbah-ul-Haq, from Punjab.

NWFP, who began the final as favourites, won all five games on the way to their first Pentangular title (the tournament has only been contested exclusively by provinces since 2005-06). They were comfortably the most stable side through the tournament, brushing aside the heavily-favoured Sind and Punjab, two provinces which have provided historically the bulk of the national team.

Baluchistan's Saeed Bin Nasir - originally from Sind - brought some cheer, finishing leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 419 at an average of 52.37, closely followed by NWFP's Adnan Raees. NWFP medium-pacers Shakeel-ur-Rehman and Junaid Khan - with the odd Gul cameo - were crucial to their side's success and the highest wicket-takers, taking 55 wickets between them.

The Pentangular ODI cup is due to begin from December 15, with the bulk of the tournament to be played in Karachi.

India cancels T20 Champions League after attacks in Mumbai

The inaugural six-million dollar Twenty20 Champions League has been called off because of the deadly attacks in Mumbai, organisers said on Thursday.

The tournament, featuring the top eight Twenty20 domestic teams from Australia, South Africa, India, England and Pakistan, was due to be held from December 3-10 in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.

"We held consultations among all the stakeholders including the founding members, the participating teams and members of the Governing Council after the unfortunate terrorist attacks in Mumbai on Wednesday night,"

League chairman Lalit Modi said in a statement.

"It was agreed that in the best interests of all concerned, the inaugural edition of the Champions League should be postponed."

"We very strongly condemn this dastardly and heinous criminal act of a few which has resulted in the loss of precious lives and injury to hundreds.

"We offer our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and we are with them in their hour of grief."

Modi did not say when the tournament will be played.

The teams taking part were Victoria and Western Australia (Australia), Dolphins and Titans (South Africa), Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals (India), Middlesex (England) and Sialkot Stallions (Pakistan).

The touring England team had earlier on Thursday cancelled the last two One-day Internationals of their seven-game series against India and were in talks with Indian officials over next month's two Test matches.

Rawalpindi ruled out for India's Pakistan tour

Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt on Tuesday said Rawalpindi has been dropped as a venue for the upcoming home series against India because the central city's stadium is not ready.

"We will not be able to finish the renovation work that includes the relaying of the outfield, so the matches scheduled for Rawalpindi will be shifted to other cities,"

the PCB chairman said.

Rawalpindi was scheduled to host the second of three Test series and the third match of the five limited-overs international match series.

Ijaz Butt said Faisalabad or Multan, due to host one-day internationals during the India series, were likely replacements.

Rawalpindi's Pindi cricket stadium was also excluded from the list of venues for the Champions Trophy, which was to be held in September this year but was put off for 12 months due to security fears.

Pakistan's main concern remains to convince India that issues over safety should not stop the tourists visiting.

The Indian government's refusal to send its junior hockey team to Pakistan earlier this month raised fears that the cricket series might suffer the same fate.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India last week told the PCB it had sought New Delhi's clearance for the tour and would give further details early next month.

Butt said he hoped the tour would continue as scheduled and briefed the Indian high commissioner Satya Pal about PCB's plans for the series.

"I am hopeful that India will tour and we are preparing for it,"

said Butt, who refused to disclose any details of his meeting -- his second with the Indian high commissioner in a week.

Butt added that he would travel to India early next month to allay the country's security concerns.

"Our first priority should be that they come to Pakistan as per schedule but in the worst scenario we have back up plans of playing the series at neutral venues,"

said Butt.

Pakistan is in talks with the organisers in the United Arab Emirates to host the India series in case the need arises.

Pentangular Cup to begin from Dec 15

Punjab will play Federal Areas in the opening match of the Pentangular Cup one day cricket tournament on December 15 at Gadaffi stadium.

Apart from Lahore the matches will also be played at Karachi. The tournament will be played under lights, said a spokesman of Pakistan Cricket Board here on Monday.

Following is the programme of the matches to be read as dates, teams, venues, umpires, referee ,scorer and tv umpire.

(Dec 15) Punjab-Federal Areas, Gaddafi Stadium Lahore, Iftikhar Malik-Mian Aslam, Khalid Niazi, Abdul Hameed.

(Dec 16) Sindh-Balochistan, National Stadium Karachi, Rasheed Bhatti-Saleem Badar, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Muhammad Ahsan, Iftikhar Malik.

(Dec 17) Punjab-NWFP, National Stadium Karachi, Mian Aslam-Iftikhar Malik, Ishtiaq Ahmed, Salman Hussain, Rasheed Bhatti.

(Dec 18) Federal Areas-Baluchistan, National Stadium Karachi, Rasheed Bhatti-Riazuddin, Anwar Khan, Imran Ali, Mian Aslam.

(Dec 19) Punjab-Baluchistan, National Stadium Karachi, Zameer Haider-Iqbal Butt, Anwar Khan, Muhammad Ahsan, Riazuddin.

(Dec 20) Sindh-NWFP, National Stadium Karachi, Iqbal Butt-Zameer Haider, Khalid Niazi, Salman Hussain, Saleem Badar.

(Dec 21) Sindh-Federal Areas, National Stadium Karachi, Saleem Badar-Riazuddin, Naeem Ahmed, Imran Ali, Iqbal Butt.

(Dec 22) NWFP-Baluchistan, National Stadium Karachi, Nadeem Ghouri-Ahmed Shahab, Naeem Ahmed, Muhammad Ahsan, Ahsan Raza.

(Dec 23) Punjab-Sindh, National Stadium Karachi, Nadeem Ghouri-Ahsan Raza, Abdul Sami Khan, Salman Hussain, Ahmed Shahab.

(Dec 24) NWFP-Federal Areas, National Stadium Karachi, Ahsan Raza-Ahmed Shahab, Abdul Sami Khan, Imran Ali, Nadeem Ghouri.

(Dec 26) FINAL, National Stadium Karachi.

Abdul Qadir made national cricket chief selector

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) here on Thursday appointed former leg-spinner Abdul Qadir as chairman of the national cricket selection committee.

The 53-year-old takes over from former fast bowler Salim Jaffer, who was made head of an interim selection committee last month.

"Qadir will be our new chief selector,"

PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told reporters, adding that other members of the selection committee will be announced shortly.

Qadir's appointment is part of the PCB's drive to use the experience of former players to put Pakistan's team cricket back on track. The Board on Wednesday also appointed former captain Javed Miandad as its director general.

Abdul Qadir said his priority will be to select the most deserving players.

"I want to give my honest dedication and will select players on merit and devise a system where no first class player can complain that he was not selected despite doing well,"

Qadir told media.

Abdul Qadir played 67 Tests for Pakistan in the 1970s and 80s and took 236 wickets. He also played 104 one-day internationals. This is the first time that Qadir has been appointed to the selection committee.

"I want to make the most of the opportunity and hopefully help Pakistan cricket with my experience,"

said Qadir, whose first task will be to select the team for a high profile home series against India.

"The first task is difficult, but we will do a honest selection so that we can put the best fight against India who are improving by leaps and bounds,"

said Qadir.

India is scheduled to go on a January-February tour of Pakistan, but it is still unclear whether the side will receive clearance by its government because of security fears in the wake of suicide bombings in Pakistan by militants.

India are slated to play a side game, three Tests, five one-day internationals and a Twenty20 international.

PCB begins downsizing

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has begun downsizing to minimize monetary burden of the board.

In the first phase, the PCB has retrenched 60 employees including regional development managers and general managers.

According to the PCB sources, the regional offices were set up four years ago and an expenditure of five million rupees was incurred annually on the people posted on various positions in the board.

Now the board expressing non-confidence on the performance of the regional offices have relieved off the employees.

Miandad appointed Director General PCB

Cricket legend and former Pakistan captain and coach Javed Miandad has been appointed director-general of the Pakistan Cricket Board here on Wednesday.

Talking with Geo News, Javed Miandad said that he thanked chairman PCB for assigning him this responsibility.

He said that he would make his best efforts to help the Pakistan cricket team to regain its lost place.

Miandad, 51, said that as director-general PCB, he would look after all local and international cricket affairs.

Javed Miandad was one of the best batsmen in the world of cricket. He represented Pakistan in international cricket for almost 20 years.

He also captained Pakistan in Test and One-day International cricket. After retiring from cricket in 1996, he coached the national team for two times and played an important role in building a good image of Pakistan in international cricket.

He scored 8,832 runs at an average of 52.57 with 23 hundreds and 43 fifties. He also made 7,381 runs (ave 41.70) with eight centuries and 50 half-centuries in One-day international cricket.

In first-class cricket, Miandad scored 28,663 runs (ave 53.37) with 80 hundreds and 139 fifties.

Private leagues must earn ICC recognition first: Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan great Wasim Akram on Tuesday stressed private cricket leagues must get recognition from the game's governing body before being launched to avoid clashes with international sides.

"All the private leagues must get recognition from the International Cricket Council (ICC) or from respective boards before they start, otherwise more and more private leagues could affect international cricket,"

Wasim Kram said.

"These private leagues can offer more money than players get at the international level and that would harm the game at international level, so there must be steps to stop that."

Wasim was reacting to complaints by some Pakistani players banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board for joining the unrecognised Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Yousuf served legal notice: Saleem Altaf

Director-general Pakistan Cricket Board Saleem Altaf has said that Mohammad Yousuf has been sent the legal notice for signing contract with the Indian Cricket League (IPL).

Addressing at a press conference here on Friday, he said that the Cricket World Cup 2011 would commence in February and the final would be played on March 31.

Saleem Altaf said that the 14 matches of the World Cup would be played in four cities of Pakistan – Karachi, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore.

He said that the International Cricket Council (ICC) did not make any objection on the venue of Rawalpindi. However, if the Pindi Stadium is not built in time then the match of the Pakistan-India series would be played in Faisalabad.

Saleem Altaf said that the central secretariat of the World Cup central organizing committee would be based in Lahore and chairman PCB Ejaz Butt would be the convener of the committee.

He told that an international committee would be set up which would review the 15 venues for the World Cup.

Saleem Altaf said that all the four host countries would form their local organizing committees.

He said that the Pak-Indo series would be held in January 2009 as per schedule.

Yousuf blames PCB, captain for ICL move

An angry Mohammad Yousuf on Friday blamed the attitude of Pakistan cricket authorities and captain Shoaib Malik for his move to the unofficial Indian league, denying he was motivated by money.

The 34-year-old was banned from all cricket in Pakistan after he joined the lucrative Indian Cricket League (ICL) on Wednesday.

Yousuf said the attitude of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Malik pushed him towards the ICL.

"Everyone is saying that I have signed (up for) the ICL because of money but the real reason was the attitude of the PCB and Malik which forced me to join the league,"

Yousuf told in a radio interview.

Yousuf left for India on Monday, hours after being named in Pakistan's squad to play three one-day internationals against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi.

The player had previously been left out of the side for a four-nation Twenty20 competition in Canada in October because of visa problems. But he said that was not the whole story.

"I was told that my visa for Canada was delayed. In fact afterwards I got to know that my visa was applied (for) in a wrong manner and I was left out of the team and no one from the PCB bothered to talk to me,"

he added.

"I am the senior most player and team's best performer for the last several years but I was left out of the team. They don't want me in the team so why not I join a league where I am welcomed?"

said Yousuf.

"(The) captain never gave me the respect I deserved."

Yousuf signed for the ICL in September last year after being left out of Pakistan's Twenty20 World Cup squad. The PCB managed to convince him to continue playing for the national side and return the ICL signing-on fee.

But he was lured back to the ICL once more after missing the Canada tournament.

"The PCB must give respect to the senior players and if they don't, more and more senior players will leave for the ICL. That has been the case since last year,"

said Yousuf.

The ICL authorities said they have dropped all the cases against Yousuf for breach of contract in 2007. Yousuf will now make his ICL debut for Lahore Badshahs on Friday.

Yousuf said he still harbours hopes of playing for Pakistan.

"I know I still have three to four years of cricket left in me, so I can still play for Pakistan provided I am accepted by the PCB and my team-mates, especially the captain."

PCB bans Yousuf, terminates his central contract

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) terminating the central contract of the country’s renowned batsman Mohammad Yousuf has banned him on playing cricket in the country after he has joined the controversial Indian Cricket League (ICL).

Director operations PCB Zakir Khan said at a press conference here on Wednesday that the ban on Mohammad Yousuf on playing cricket in the country or for the country would continue as long as he would be playing the ICL.

He said that the central contract of Mohammad Yousuf has been terminated and with that the board would recover from him all the expenses incurred on his case against the ICL.

Zakir Khan further said that the PCB has learnt that the Indian Premier League (IPL) would also approach to the court on the case of Yousuf.

He said that the chairman PCB has given his approval for including Khalid Lateef in the national squad for the series against the West Indies, to be played in Abu Dhabi, in place of Mohammad Yousuf.

Zakir Khan said that former captain Saleem Malik was not offered any position in the board and Rashid Lateef has taken hasty decision in this regard. Rashid should had taken any step after confirming from the board.

PCB faces opposition on Salem Malik's appointment

The International Cricket Council (ICC) said Wednesday that it wants answers from Pakistan over the appointment of former captain Saleem Malik as coach of their National Cricket Academy as one of his former teammates resigned in disgust.

Malik was banned from the sport for life in 2000 over claims that he asked Australian players to underperform during their tour of Pakistan in 1994. He appealed and last month overturned the ban, freeing him to accept the job.

An ICC spokesman told that "we will write a 'please explain' letter" to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) about the appointment.

Saleem Malik, 45, confirmed his appointment on Monday but so far the PCB has made no formal announcement, despite scheduling a statement for Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Malik's former teammate Rashid Lateef resigned in protest as the national youth academy's wicketkeeping coach.

"I oppose Malik's appointment. It is shocking for me to know that Malik has been appointed as the head coach of the national academy,"

Rashid wrote in his resignation letter to the PCB.

Rashid blew the whistle on match-fixing, giving evidence against Saleem Malik and several other team-mates before a judicial commission investigating the allegations in the late 1990s.

The commission banned Malik and fined former skippers Wasim Akram, Inzamam-ul Haq, Saeed Anwar, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Akram Raza.

Paceman Ataur Rehman was also banned for life on charges of perjury, although that ban was later lifted.

Malik's name was linked to an Indian match-fixing inquiry that led to a life ban -- later overturned -- for former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin in 2000.

The late South Africa captain Hansie Cronje, also banned for life for involvement in match-fixing, named Malik as an offender.

Malik played 103 Tests and 263 one-day internationals for Pakistan between 1981 and 1999. He led his country in 12 Tests and 34 one-day internationals.

Yousuf wants to play for Pakistan despite joining ICL

Star batsman Mohammad Yousuf on Wednesday said he was still keen to play for Pakistan despite signing up with a rebel Twenty20 league in India.

Yousuf, 34, was set to stage a comeback for Pakistan in next week's three matches against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi after missing a Twenty20 event in Canada last month because of visa problems.

His name featured in the 15-man squad announced on Monday, but shortly afterwards it was revealed that he had signed for the Indian Cricket League (ICL).

"I had a misunderstanding with the ICL. Now that has been sorted out and I will play for them,"

Yousuf, sporting a skull cap and traditional kurta-pyjama, said at a press conference here.

"But I still want to play for my country. This matter is in the hands of the (Pakistan) board, if I get a call-up, I will definitely represent the country."

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has a strict policy of banning all players who have joined the unofficial ICL, which is backed by India's largest media group, Zee television.

About 15 Pakistani players, including former captain Inzamam-ul Haq, joined the league last year and were barred from playing international and national cricket by the PCB.

Yousuf, whose 1,788 runs in 2006 is a calendar-year record, previously signed a contract with the ICL after he was omitted from Pakistan's Twenty20 World Cup squad in September last year.

But the PCB later convinced him to tear up the contract and instead sign with the official Indian Premier League (IPL).

The ICL filed a legal case against Yousuf in Mumbai for breach of contract while the IPL also threatened to take him to court.

ICL business head Himanshu Mody said they had dropped the case against Yousuf.

"We have settled the case with Yousuf. We have signed him for a three-year deal,"

Mody said.

He also claimed that the IPL could not take Yousuf to court because the batsman had not inked any deal with them.

"Yousuf has not taken any money from the IPL. There was no agreement between the two, so the IPL cannot take any action against him. However, if something does come up, we will stand by Yousuf,"

Mody said.

Yousuf, part of the Lahore Badshah team, will make his ICL debut in western Ahmedabad on Saturday with a match against Dhaka Warriors, which comprises players from Bangladesh.

Mohammad Yousuf set to rejoin ICL

Mohammad Yousuf is on the verge of signing up again with the ICL, in what will represent one of the league's biggest coups. The news comes on a day that he was named in a 15-man squad to take on West Indies in three ODIs later this month in Abu Dhabi.

Although the ICL is yet to make an official announcement, Cricinfo has learnt that Yousuf has arrived in Delhi ahead of final talks with top league officials on Tuesday. And ICL sources confirmed to Cricinfo that he was close to signing up to play in the ongoing second season. It is not yet known which team he will play for.

When contacted, the PCB said it was trying to confirm whether Yousuf had joined the ICL, before taking any action.

"We called his family home after hearing of these reports. They told us he has gone to India to play cricket,"

Zakir Khan, the PCB's director of cricket operations, told Cricinfo.

"We want to get in touch with him, as we have not been told anything, to see what the facts of the situation are before we take any further steps."

Some important legal questions remain unanswered at the moment, for the ICL's latest acquisition is a long-running saga. Yousuf had initially signed up with the league in September 2007, in protest at being axed from Pakistan's squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.

He was later lured out of playing in the ICL by the Pakistan board, with the promise of a lucrative contract in the IPL. But the ICL took the matter to an arbitration court in Mumbai, arguing that as Yousuf had signed up with them, he was ineligible to play for any other league.

A stay order was passed against Yousuf's participation in the IPL, though an appeal was later filed by the PCB on Yousuf's behalf in the Bombay High Court. There the matter has so far remained.

The IPL, meanwhile, is looking at the legal options available.

"I don't have the papers with me but we will be definitely exploring all legal options,"

Niranjan Shah, the IPL's vice-chairman, told Cricinfo.

Also in the spotlight will come Yousuf's international future with Pakistan. All boards around the world have taken their cue from the BCCI in barring ICL-contracted players from playing for the national team, or in some cases, even domestic sides. The PCB was no different: under the previous chairman Nasim Ashraf, all of Pakistan's ICL players have been barred from representing Pakistan or playing domestic cricket. As per that policy, Yousuf will not represent Pakistan again which will put their selectors in a fix, having just announced the squad.

But the present administration - not available for comment currently - has hinted at a different, though not yet fully-formed, stance. At his first press conference after taking over as chairman, Ijaz Butt said the bans on ICL players would have to be looked at again as he didn't see a difference between the ICL and the IPL. Inzamam-ul-Haq, currently leading the Lahore Badshahs in the ICL, has been in touch with Butt directly about the issue and is likely to pursue it in an effort to allow players back into the national fold. Zakir Khan, though, maintained that the PCB's policy on ICL "remains the same".

Yousuf's limited-overs future has been the subject of increasing debate in Pakistan, despite a stellar record in recent years. His relatively poor fielding skills have been held against him regularly, as are his advancing years now. He has been open in his criticisms of this view, recently hitting out at the previous selection committee for continuing to ignore him from the Twenty20 side. That attack prompted the committee to select him for the Twenty20 tournament in Canada in August, though ultimately Yousuf couldn't go because of problems with his visa.

Intikhab’s contract finalized, Saleem Malik to be academy’s chief coach

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finalized the contract with the new coach Intikhab Alam while this ahs been decided to appoint former captain Saleem Malik as chief coach of the National Cricket Academy.

The PCB sources told that the cricket board has made a two-year contract with coach Intikhab Alam under which he would be paid an annual salary of six million rupees besides other perks.

Intikhab Alam will get an additional amount of Rs 1,000,000 on winning the final of the ICC event and Rs 500,000 on qualifying for the final.

He will not be allowed to write column for any newspaper or magazine and take part in commentary for electronic media.

Meanwhile, former captain Saleem Malik has been assigned the responsibility of the chief coach of the PCB’s National Cricket Academy. This post was vacated after the appointment of Aaqib Javed as assistant coach of the national cricket team.

Shoaib Akhtar gives bat in gift to Petangular Cup’s best batsman

Pakistan cricket team’s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar gave away Sachin Tendulkar’s bat in gift to Umer Amin, the best batsman of Federal Area in the Pentangular Cup.

Umer Amin has played an important role in the victory of his team Federal Area with his unbeaten innings of 76 runs.

He has so far scored about 250 runs in the Pentangular Tournament.

The ‘Rawalpindi Express’ Shoaib Akhtar, to encourage the young batsman, gave him the bat which he had received in gift from Indian star batsman Sachin Tendulkar and expressed his kind wishes for him.

Aamir Sohail likely to be PCB chief selector

Former skipper Pakistan cricket team Aamir Sohail is likely to become the Chief Selector of national cricket team, sources said.

The current selection committee, under Saleem Jafar had responsibility to select players of Abu Dhabi series, was temporary and this would be dissolved after the series against West Indies.

Former captain Aamir Sohail is the strong frontrunner for the post and sources added that he has been offered the post by the PCB.

However, Sohail will have to bid fare well to cricket commentary as long as he remains on the job.

Sohail is scheduled to meet Chairman PCB Ejaz Butt in Lahore on Wednesday to discuss and settle down all the related issues in this regard.

He remained the Chief Selector in 2003 and some additional charges would also be provided to him.

Intikhab prefers domestic games over camps

Intikhab Alam, the new Pakistan coach, has given preference to match experience in domestic tournaments over camps to prepare for the home series against India in January next year. Intikhab took over from Geoff Lawson in late October and his first assignment will be the ODI series against West Indies in Abu Dhabi starting November 12.

"I would say there is no better way to prepare national team probables than to make them play every competitive match of the forthcoming Quaid-e-Azam Trophy,"

Intikhab told the Karachi-based News.

"It is useless organising and arranging long-duration camps when the top domestic competition is in progress."

Pakistan's national players are currently participating in the Pentangular Trophy, a provincial four-day domestic tournament, which will be followed by the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the country's premier first-class competition.

Intikhab said even though Pakistan have played no Test cricket since early this year they have an advantage over India, who have played 11 Tests, including the ongoing one in Delhi, as well as four ODI series.

"[India] must be feeling exhausted by the time they play the series against Pakistan starting at the turn of year. By the time the Indians will be here, the probables after playing good and hard domestic cricket would be in a better position to deliver."

Intikhab, who coached Pakistan during their victorious World Cup campaign in 1992 and then again in 2000, said the job was about man management.

"Most of the boys emerging to the forefront already have the knowledge of basic coaching. What a coach does is to make slight adjustments in the technique of a player if he goes wrong somewhere or to work mentally on him if he has got a habit of committing the same mistake regularly. A coach is the one who earns respect from the boys leading by example. Cricket is all about discipline, patience and training and learning in a friendly atmosphere."

Intikhab said he was fortunate to have played alongside Ijaz Butt, the current Pakistan board chairman.

"It is always easy to do your job when you feel you would not get interrupted."

Cricket’ll be destroyed if foreign teams don’t tour Pakistan: Younus Khan

Senior batsman of Pakistan cricket team Younus Khan said that cricket in Pakistan would be destroyed if foreign team do not tour the country.

In an interview to an Australian newspaper, Younus Khan said that Australia did not tour Pakistan since 1998 for security reasons. They refused to participate in an important event like the Champions Trophy and insisted to shift the series to neutral grounds. These decisions are going to be causes of destruction of cricket in Pakistan.

He said that the people of Pakistan are taking great interest in cricket and they want to watch Brett Lee, Shaun Tate and Ricky Ponting playing at Pakistan grounds.

Younus said that if Australians do not tour Pakistan then Pakistan cricket would be damaged. Australia should think over it and should take it seriously because it is the duty of the international teams to promote cricket and not to destroy it.