Talat Ali plays down Ashraf remarks

Talat Ali, the Pakistan team manager, has played down the PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf's scathing remarks to the management following the side's 140-run defeat to India in the Kitply Cup. Ali said the media was making a big issue of Ashraf's email which was leaked to the Pakistan press on Wednesday.

"It happens every now and again," Ali said of Ashraf's email, which, among other things, criticised Shoaib Malik's captaincy and fitness, and picked out Kamran Akmal for "unsporting behaviour" after he claimed a catch that he hadn't taken cleanly.

"There is nothing new to it," Ali said. "This is not the first time that the chairman has written to the team. He has a right to ask me anything and it is nothing abnormal."

Ali refused to divulge details of the email and said it was a board matter. "When we win, we do analyse the victory and when we lose we analyse the defeat. It's normal that people ask what went wrong with this kind of performance."

On Thursday the board sacked Saleem Altaf, a senior board official, reportedly after alleging that he has leaked sensitive information to the press. Though it seemed initially that the leaked email was the reason for his sacking, it seems unlikely to be the case.