Karachi: Pakistan’s World Cup campaign hit another snag when the national team’s fielding coach Grant Luden threatened to step down complaining of misbehaviour from three senior players. According to details the incident which is yet to be confirmed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Luden complained that Shahid Afridi, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal had misbehaved with him during a training session yesterday.
Source said, Luden sent a message to the PCB Chairman threatening to resign as he could not tolerate such insulting behaviour from the players. 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.
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.
Interestingly the training regime being implemented by Waqar and his team of coaches has already apparently become a sore point in the team with some players who have complained 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.
Bureau Report
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