ISLAMABAD, Sept 17: Mudassar Nazar, sacked Tuesday as Pakistan coach following a string of poor performances denied that there was any rift within the team.

“All this is absolutely rubbish,” he told Dawn after meeting the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Lt Gen Tauqir Zia in Rawalpindi earlier in the day.

Mudassar was asked to return from Sri Lanka where Pakistan have still to play Holland in their second group match of the ICC Champions Trophy to explain the reasons for the side’s poor showing in recent tournaments.

In a meeting, described as “good” by Mudassar, the coach presented a detailed report on the causes that led to the fall of the team that has lost six of its last 10 One-day Internationals.

He said that the players were feeling burnt-out because of an overdose of cricket and some of them needed to be rested before the next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

Mudassar said that he had no regrets on losing his job. “It was performance oriented and because we did not do well in the last three tournaments, I was expecting this.”

“Before the three tournaments we had done well by winning the majority of the matches but then when things began to go wrong it was difficult to check them.”

He said for now, he was going home and would “consider” returning to coach at the National Cricket Academy. “I will be leaving in two or three days and would then decide if am coming back or not.”

Mudassar is set to be replaced by South African Richard Pybus who is coming to Pakistan to meet Tauqir Zia later this week. Pybus had the job he held until last year before leaving Pakistan amid security fears after the Sept 11 attacks on the United States last year.

Reuters adds from Colombo: Waqar Younis, who has been retained as captain for the upcoming Test series against Australia, said he could not understand why Mudassar was summoned back to Pakistan midway through the Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka.

“I have got no idea why he was called, what happened between him and the chairman. He has gone now, so we have got to see who they send,” he said.

The series against Australia has been moved to neutral territory due to ongoing security concerns. The first Test, starting on Oct 3, will be played in Colombo with the following two scheduled for Sharjah.