JALANDHAR: Star spinner Harbhajan
Singh on Sunday rubbished reports that India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and
his deputy Virender Sehwag had a tiff over Amit Mishra’s exclusion from the
Mirpur Test against Bangladesh.

“There was cool atmosphere in the
dressing room during the Bangladesh tour and it is only after coming back to
India that we read reports about alleged rift between Dhoni and Sehwag whereas
it was never noticed by any teammate,” Harbhajan said.

Earlier,
media reports claimed Mishra’s exclusion from the second Test in Mirpur, despite
his sterling performance in the previous match in Chittagong, led to arguments
between Sehwag and Dhoni.

Sehwag led the side in Chittagong in
absence of Dhoni who missed the match with back spasm.

Harbhajan too
sat out with a stiff neck and substituting him, Mishra grabbed the opportunity
with both hands, claiming seven wickets and notching up his maiden Test fifty in
the series opener.

Harbhajan recovered in time to play the second
Test in Mirpur but Pragyan Ojha was preferred to Mishra as second spinner.

Harbhajan said such reports could disturb the team and media should
refrain from speculations.

The off-spinner was tight-lipped about
the controversy surrounding the Pakistani players’ exclusion from the Indian
Premier League but exuded confidence of doing well against South Africa to
protect the number one status in Test cricket.

“I am sure if we will
play up to our potential, we will definitely win,” Harbhajan said.

“No doubt South Africa is in goof form but playing at home will
definitely provide us an edge and India is ready to tackle any challenge,”
Harbhajan said.

“It is must for Indian team to win the upcoming
series to maintain its status of number one team,” he said, conceding injuries
to Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh would affect the home side in the two-match
series starting February 6.

Harbhajan on Sunday witnessed the final
match of the tournament played in the memory of his late father Sardev Singh.

“It is my wish to upgrade the Sardev Memorial Tournament to national
level for which I will talk to the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA),” he said.

Winner of the tournament was given Rs One lakh, while the runners-up
side got Rs 50,000.

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board
chairman Ejaz Butt on Sunday ruled out a complete overhaul of the team after
their disastrous tour of Australia but said a younger skipper will replace
Mohammad Yousuf.

“Ideally, a younger player could have been chosen to
lead Pakistan, but Australia is not the place to experiment. So, the choice fell
on the senior-most player Mohammad Yousuf. Now we would like to hand over the
reins to a younger captain who can lead the side for a longer period,” Butt
said.

Butt said the board had appointed Younis Khan as captain last
year with a view to have him in this position for a long
time.

“Unfortunately, the National Assembly standing committee on
sports made allegations against him and this caused him great distress and he
decided to not play for a while upsetting our plans,” he said.

The
PCB chief said he was not a supporter of the culture of frequent changes in the
captaincy and team management but circumstances forced the board to take
short-term decisions.

He also said that the selectors would be
looking at inducting some new players into the team.

“Complete
overhaul is not possible and we will gradually start inducting new players into
the side. There is plenty of talent in our cricket and we can even now replace
the entire fast bowling line up but we don’t want to take hasty decisions,” he
said.

KARACHI: Legendary fast bowler Imran
Khan said on Sunday that Pakistani players had suffered “insulting treatment” at
the hands of the Indian Premier League, and no player should take part in the
tournament.

Eleven top Pakistani cricketers were up for grabs at the
Indian Premier League (IPL) auction in mid-January but none were picked,
sparking outrage in Pakistan and accusations against arch-rival India of
political meddling.

“IPL did injustice to Pakistani players – in fact
it was insulting treatment meted out to players who are world champions, and we
should never send our players to the league,” said Khan, a former captain turned
politician.

“Pakistani cricketers are the best in the world and the
PCB should protest this with the Indian Board and boycott the IPL,” he
said.

“They totally disrespected the Pakistani players. If they had
security problems they should have dealt with them before the
auction.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has already revoked
permission for players to feature in the third edition of the IPL in
March-April, while PCB chief Ijaz Butt has also said the nation’s cricketers are
banned from the tournament.

Former players have demanded that the
national hockey team boycott the upcoming World Cup in New Delhi in protest,
while Pakistan’s sports minister complained to his Indian
counterpart.

Former players and politicians have also called for a
boycott of the 2011 cricket World Cup, jointly hosted by India, Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh.

“We should play in the World Cup, even if we have to play
in India, because the World Cup is a global event and if we don’t play, our
cricket will suffer badly,” said Khan, one of the top four all-rounders to play
the game.

CHENNAI: Injured Rahul Dravid’s
absence from next month’s Test series against South Africa came was a “big blow”
for the team, but India are a confident lot after starting the year on a winning
note against Bangladesh, said opener Gautam Gambhir on Sunday.

“Rahul
Dravid has been the wall of Indian middle order batting and his absence against
a quality team such as South Africa will be a big blow,” said Gambhir, a brand
ambassador of MRF, after flagging off the Formula 1600 race in the MRF Challenge
series.

“But we have begun 2010 well (by winning against Bangladesh).
The players would want to carry the momentum against South Africa. Moreover,
injuries are part and parcel of sports, and it gives other players an
opportunity to prove their mettle against a tough opposition,” he
said.

Dravid has been ruled out of the two-Test series against the
Proteas starting February 6 after the right-hander fractured his jaw during the
just-concluded Bangladesh tour.

Gambhir said South Africa have a
strong pace attack in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel but Indian duo of Zaheer Khan
and Ishant Sharma are no less potent.

“They have a strong bowling
pair in Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. We need to start off well upfront to keep
them at bay. Though we don’t have S Sreesanth, Zaks (Zaheer Khan) has been
bowling extremely well recently. His performance in Bangladesh speaks volumes of
the form he is in.

“Ishant Sharma has also been bowling well in Test
and we do have a good balance in bowling,” said Gambhir.

Gambhir said
India will have to make a good start in all departments of the game if they want
to beat Graeme Smith’s men.

“We have to play well as a team. It would
be crucial for us to get a good start, either batting or bowling first. If we
are batting first we need to put up a good total to back up the bowlers. If we
are bowling first, we need to take crucial early wickets,” said the top-ranked
ICC Test batsman.

“They (South Africa) did well when they were here
the last time, but didn’t win the series. They will surely carry some confidence
from that tour. But we have started off the year well by winning the series
against Bangladesh. We have a lot of cricket ahead and it is good to start the
year on such a positive note,” he said.

Gambhir sought to stay away
from the controversy surrounding Pakistani players IPL 3 snub this
year.

“I have no clue about it. But despite the absence of Pakistan
players, we have a good pack of foreign cricketers. There are some very good
foreign players though we don’t have Mohammad Asif, but I think there is a good
balance,” said the Delhi Daredevils captain.