Pakistan coach, manager hold closed-door meeting with seniors

Pakistan team coach Dav Whatmore and manager Naved Cheema have held a closed-door meeting with senior members of the national team, currently in South Africa, in a bid to reverse the flow of poor results on the tour.

Sources close to the Pakistan team confirmed that the meeting was held last night at the team hotel in which only the senior players were invited by the manager and coach. "None of the junior players like Junaid Khan, Nasir Jamshed, Wahab Riaz, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Irfan were invited for the meeting," a source said.

Senior players -- captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, Muhammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Imran Farhat, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal -- attended the meeting. "Apparently the coach asked the players to outline the reasons they felt were responsible for the team's continuing poor performance in South Africa," the source said.

"The purpose appeared to be to listen to what the seniors had to say about what had gone wrong on the tour. The manager also asked the players whether they had any grouses against anyone or each other, and to sort them out. "This was done in all likely to release the tension and pressure on the players after the string of poor results," he added.

There were reports in the media about the differences between Misbah and Hafeez on the tour, which were however denied by the Pakistan Cricket Board and the players themselves. Hafeez told the reporters that he and his teammates could never do anything against the interests of Pakistan cricket. Though the PCB has kept mum so far on the poor performances but has given indications that a few axing could take place if the team finishes the one-day series also on a dismal note.