Pakistan cricket chief says team in 'total harmony'

Pakistan's cricket chief on Tuesday brushed aside reports of disharmony in the team after a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of Sri Lanka in July and August.

Pakistan lost the three-Test series 2-0 with the last Test ending in a draw, and went down 3-2 in the one-day series -- their first defeats in a series on Sri Lankan soil. Pakistan won the only Twenty20 match on the tour.

Former players and local media blamed splits within the team, with some reports suggesting senior players like Shoiab Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq were not cooperating with captain Younus Khan.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt, who met the players here last week, denied the reports.

"Having met with manager Yawar Saeed, coach Intikhab Alam, assistant coach Aaqib Javed, Younus and other players on the Sri Lanka tour, I can say with absolute confidence that there was total harmony in the team," Butt said.

"They were united and played as a unit," he said in a PCB statement.

The statement went on to say that the players were now preparing for next month's Champions Trophy in South Africa. Pakistan is expected to announce the final 15-man squad for the September 22-October 5 trophy later this week.

The defeats were particularly galling for Pakistan after their team's triumphant Twenty20 World Cup victory over Sri Lankan in June.