Pakistan dismiss Gavaskar rumours as 'rubbish'

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has dismissed media reports that it was unhappy with Sunil Gavaskar and was planning to challenge his role as ICC's head of Cricket Committee as "rubbish and baseless".

"We are neither making any report nor intend to make any report against Sunil Gavaskar. We respect and accept his decisions," Abbas Zaidi, the PCB's director board operations, told PTI from Lahore.

The PCB was said to be very unhappy with the influence Gavaskar has over decisions, and this week's appointment of Javagal Srinath as an ICC match referee ahead of any of the four individuals it nominated appears to have been the final straw. Pakistan's rejected nominees were Colonel Naushad Ali, Talat Ali, Pervez Sajjad and Hasan Jameel.

"It's no secret that Pakistan is not very satisfied with the working of the former Indian captain as head of the committee playing and they feel the time has come now for a change at the head of this committee," a PCB source was quoted as saying by The News.

But Zaidi reiterated that the PCB doesn't make these sorts of irresponsible statements. "These may be the views of one or two people, I don't know, but the PCB has got nothing to do with these statements. We are an affiliated unit of the ICC and if we have any problems, we now how to address them. We don't believe in issuing statements or maligning any office-bearer of the ICC, particularly of the stature of Gavaskar."