PCB deny brawl, say Pakistan fielding coach is not going anywhere

A clarification has finally come from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over reports that their fielding coach Grant Luden had quit after a row with senior players. “It’s absolutely false, there’s nothing like that happening, he’s not going anywhere. There was no brawl, no argument,” a PCB spokesman was quoted as saying in a Sydney Morning Herald report. A Dawn report also quoted a senior player: “During events like World Cup, a team needs support of media and its people…with such rumours it would only demoralise the confidence of the players.” It was earlier reported that Luden has stepped down after it was alleged that players Shahid Afridi, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal had misbehaved with him during a training session on Tuesday. [caption id=“attachment_2105547” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Shahid Afridi is allegedly causing trouble for Pakistan agaiin. AP[/caption] “Luden sent a message to the PCB Chairman threatening to resign as he could not tolerate such insulting behaviour from the players,” one source told PTI. Luden apparently complained to Shahryar Khan that some of the players including these three were not cooperating with him in the training sessions that hindered his work. “Luden has complained that the three players allegedly used abusive language on Tuesday.” It was reported that Luden had threatened that if the players don’t change their behaviour he will resign from his post. The source said that after getting the message, the PCB Chairman had spoken to the team manager, Naved Cheema, head coach Waqar Younis and Luden and discussed the issue with them. “He has assured Luden his concerns will be looked into and the players will not be allowed to misbehave in future,” the source added. Going by the latest reports coming in from Australia and in the Pakistan media, the assurances seemed to have worked. The training regime being implemented by Waqar and his team of coaches is reportedly a sore point in the team with some players complaining that they are left exhausted before matches by the tough schedule. The team management is also under fire for their selections made for the opening match against India which Pakistan lost on Sunday. The PCB hired Luden last year as part of its overhauling of the team’s support staff. With inputs from PTI