June 17, 2008	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 12, 1429

KARACHI, June 16: Flamboyant all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Monday dismissed reports that Pakistan cricket team was a divided lot and insisted there were no groupings in the side.

Afridi also said there were no ill feelings among players against skipper Shoaib Malik or coach Geoff Lawson.

Media reports, just ahead of the tri-series final between India and Pakistan, had claimed that some senior players were daggers drawn against Malik and Lawson.

The alleged dissension, coupled with Pakistan’s crushing 140-run defeat in the league had prompted PCB chief Dr Nasim Ashraf to hold talks with players on the issue.

But Afridi claimed the meeting had nothing to do with the reported groupings in the team. “There are no groupings in the team. Such stories are not correct.

The chairman met us to buck us up and reminded us of our duties and responsibilities as senior players of the side,” Afridi said.

Ashraf met with senior players — Afridi, Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan — separately and then with Lawson and Malik in Dhaka on Friday, on the eve of the tri-nation final.

Afridi said he himself had advised Malik to meet with the players after the league match defeat against India. “The idea was for the players to talk out and exchange notes to create a stronger bonding.”

“We know that if the team wins then it is good news for the entire nation.

After the way we lost to

India we were all disappointed and we wanted to fightback,” he said.

Team Manager Talat Ali also asserted that everything was fine in the team and said the board chairman had announced a

cash prize of one million for every player after the final win which was Pakistan’s first in a major tournament after five years.—Agencies