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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has downplayed reports of a rift that has emerged between the national selection committee and the team’s management over a number of issues, mostly revolving around the make-up of the team.The schism first emerged on Pakistan’s tour to India, with what appeared initially to be a miscommunication over the identity of a replacement player. The selectors, in apparent agreement with the coach and captain, had initially agreed on calling up Abdur Rauf as replacement for the injured Umar Gul.Having announced it officially during the second Test at Kolkata, the board changed tack later that evening and decided to send Rao Iftikhar Anjum instead. It is now understood that Shoaib Malik, the captain, and coach Geoff Lawson had wanted Iftikhar Anjum all along and convinced the board directly later, thus bypassing the selection committee.Since then, Cricinfo has learnt, there have been continuing disagreements over the playing XI in the current series against Zimbabwe. The selection committee has been keen to use the opportunity to blood new players in various positions. In particular, they were adamant that Nasir Jamshed should make his debut as opener; the team management, as well as Malik were instead eager to use Kamran Akmal as opener and play an extra bowler in place of Shahid Afridi.Before the series began, a heated debate is said to have taken place between Salahuddin Ahmed, chairman of selectors, and Geoff Lawson, the coach, over the matter. But as a result of a recent policy shift, it is now the selection committee that decides on the final playing XI during a home series.Jamshed has thus played and made an immediate impact in his first twoODIs. But Pakistan have also appeared a bowler short in both games, struggling to bowl out Zimbabwe with only three specialist bowlers and five realistic bowling options in total.Nasim Ashraf, chairman PCB, didn’t deny the reports, but sought to play them down instead, claiming them to be nothing more than everyday professional tussles. “Everyone is operating within their sphere of responsibility,” he told reporters in Hyderabad.”Both the selection committee and team management have separately told me in the last few days that they have a good relationship. If they don’t disagree on matters during meetings, what is the point of having these meetings at all? This is healthy debate and not signs of a rift.”Sources close to the matter maintain, however, that the issue is swiftly developing into more than just professional differences in opinion. One source adds that there has been another run-in with Malik following Pakistan’s win in the first ODI at Karachi. The last selection committee, headed by Wasim Bari, was widely thought to be little more than a rubber-stamp for Inzamam-ul-Haq’s choices while he was captain, particularly towards the end of its tenure. The current committee, the first in Pakistan’s history to employ full-time, paid selectors, is understandably keen to avoid a similar situation with Malik and eager to assert its authority.Ashraf also played down the contents of a report by manager Talat Ali following the tour to India, in which, according to a couple of local newspapers, the contributions of Younis Khan, Gul and Shoaib Akhtar have come under fire. The report is due to be discussed at a meeting of the board’s governing committee in Karachi on January 25.”We expect everybody to give an honest opinion in a respectful way,” said Ashraf. “We expect the manager and the coach to do this in their reports. The governing board is looking at the issue and the report will be discussed professionally. The idea of these reports is not to apportion blame but to learn from mistakes on future tours.”

Warriors failed to chase down a target of 128 against Lions and their 21-run loss denied them a play-off spot in this season’s Ram Slam T20. With Titans already through to the final, the play-off will now be played between Dolphins and Cape Cobras at Kingsmead on December 9 and the winner will meet Titans in the final on December 12.Looking for their third straight win, the Warriors line-up imploded in the chase and folded for 106 in 18 overs. Dwaine Pretorius (3 for 19) and Eddie Leie (4 for 32) were the main wicket-takers for Lions.Pretorius ran through Warriors’ top-order, taking three wickets at the start to help reduce the side to 34 for 5 by the seventh over. Christiaan Jonker scored an attacking 45 but he played a lone hand and once he was dismissed by Leie in the 16th over, the Warriors lower order folded quickly.After being put in to bat, Lions’ innings was driven by contributions from Dominic Hendricks (35) and Devon Conway (20), which helped them recover from a shaky start of 40 for 3 in the seventh over. Pretorius’ run-a-ball 14 and Fortuin’s 13 in the latter half of the innings helped lift the score to 127 for 9. Basheeru-Deen Walters had the best returns among Warriors’ bowlers with 3 for 21, while Andrew Birch and Sisanda Magala ended the innings with two wickets apiece.Andre Russell’s all-round performance – 4 for 11 followed by a blazing 66 not out off only 23 balls – guided Knights to a comfortable four-wicket win over Titans in Benoni. The bonus-point win for Knights had no bearing on the positions of the two teams in the table – Titans, are already through to the final, while Knights finished last on the table, two points behind Lions.Put in to bat, Quinton de Kock and Graeme van Buuren tried to lift Titans’ innings taking them to 45 for 2 from a score of 9 for 2. The Knights bowlers, however, chipped away at the wickets limiting Titans to 136 for 9. Van Buuren top-scored with a 41-ball 57 that included six fours and three sixes. Chris Morris scored an 11-ball 21 in the death but Russell denied Titans a strong finish, taking three wickets in his final two overs.Russell walked in to bat with Knights at 54 for 4 in the ninth over and went on to smash seven sixes and four fours in his 66. Lungi Ngidi and Tabraiz Shamsi suffered the brunt of Russell’s attack, and conceded 32 and 42 runs respectively. His charge helped Knights chase down the target by the 16th over.

Harbhajan Singh faces a minimum ten-match ban from the Indian Premier League if an official hearing, in New Delhi on Monday afternoon, finds him guilty of having hit Sreesanth, his India team-mate.Harbhajan also faces separate action from the BCCI, which has asked him to explain, “as a contracted player”, his role in the incident after the IPL match between the offspinner’s Mumbai Indians and Sreesanth’s King XI Punjab on Friday. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said on Monday that Sudhir Nanavati, a lawyer, has been appointed to conduct a “preliminary inquiry” and submit a report “within 15 days” to Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, who will refer the findings to the board’s disciplinary committee for possible action.Sreesanth, meanwhile, faces either an official reprimand or a strong unofficial warning for his “provocative” actions leading up to the incident, which was captured on one of the host broadcaster’s on-field cameras.”I understand the BCCI is looking into the [Harbhajan] matter separately,” IS Bindra, a member of the IPL governing council, told Cricinfo. When asked about the possible penalty involved, Bindra, who is also president of the Punjab Cricket Association which hosted Friday’s match at Mohali, confirmed that Harbhajan faced a minimum ban of 10 IPL games.If the minimum ban is applied by Farokh Engineer, the match referee, it would still seriously affect Harbhajan’s chances of playing any further role in this edition of the IPL. Mumbai Indians, who lost their first four games, have 10 more to play in the home-and-away league format till the semi-finals.However, hectic efforts are on by some officials within the BCCI and IPL, run by the Indian board, to ensure that the “judicial principle of double jeopardy” is applied in this case, and Harbhajan is not “punished for the same offence twice”. This would mean that the offspinner could be punished by the IPL, which is officially a domestic event, but may not face any separate sanctions from the BCCI on playing for India.”Any action from the BCCI’s side could result in a further ban from playing in a specified number of Tests and ODIs. But that would run contrary to the basic judicial principle of double jeopardy. Normally, any person shouldn’t be punished for the same offence twice,” a senior official told Cricinfo.But another section within the Indian establishment, which has had its eye on Harbhajan ever since allegations of indiscipline were reported against him by the team management during the Greg Chappell era, is keen to see that “strong action” is taken to send out a “serious message” in the “larger interests of the game”.Officials from this hardline group were also not entirely convinced of Harbhajan’s version of events during the subsequent race row last year involving Andrew Symonds in Australia. “Once Sachin Tendulkar backed Harbhajan’s version of the race crisis in Australia, the BCCI had no option but to support him all the way,” said another BCCI official, who said he was strongly pushing for a strict penalty.However, officials on both sides of the Harbhajan debate agree it is time Sreesanth, the temperamental fast bowler who has crossed the line of accepted on-field behaviour often in his two-year career, is pulled up as well, either in the form of an official reprimand or a private warning. “The fresh video evidence might prove Harbhajan is guilty, but nobody should ignore Sreesanth’s history of on-field problems and provocative actions leading up to the incident,” an IPL official, who was present in Mohali, said on Friday.Interestingly, Harbhajan and Sreesanth told reporters on Saturday they had “sorted out the issue” and were now like “brothers of one family”. But Engineer, the adjudicator on Monday, said: “We are not going to sweep things under the carpet.”

Match facts

Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Start time 20.00 (local), 14.30 (GMT)

The Big Picture

It will be a match between the Invincibles and the Resurgents. After one blip, the Rajasthan Royals haven’t looked capable of putting a foot wrong while the Mumbai Indians, who looked set to sink after four straight losses, have managed to turn the tide. But what could have been the showpiece of the tournament will not materialise, not yet at least: Sachin Tendulkar, yet to play a match in the IPL due to groin injury, won’t be squaring up against Shane Warne.Yet Mumbai, after back-to-back wins, will approach the match with belief and confidence. After appearing rudderless in the initial matches, they were led from the front by Shaun Pollock in their spectacular come-from-behind win against the Delhi Daredevils. Pollock seems to be easing into captaincy and grasping the strengths and weaknesses of his side.Batting, though, remains Mumbai’s major weakness. Dwayne Bravo’s 64 has been the lone match-winning innings, and it is also the only half-century recorded by a Mumbai batsman. Sanath Jayasuriya and Robin Uthappa, of whom much was expected, have disappointed. A casual attitude and lack of patience have been the features of their batting, leading to an absence of partnerships. They have their task cut out against a resourceful bowling attack, cannily led by Warne.If Rajasthan have to guard against anything, it is the possibility of an off-day. Every trick they have tried has worked so far has worked like a dream. Warne has promised more surprises, and be sure that he will be up to something. Apart from carrying some momentum in to the match, Mumbai would also hoping that the law of averages catches with the old geezer.

Tournament position

Mumbai Indians P6 W/L2/4 NRR -0.889
Rajasthan Royals P6 W/L5/1 NRR +0.873

IPL form (last five matches)

Mumbai Indians LLLWW
Rajasthan Royals WWWWW

Watch out for …

The 2008 MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture will be delivered by Desmond Tutu.A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, Tutu will become the eighth Cowdrey Lecturer when he speaks at Lord’s on Tuesday June 10, the second South African to be invited to speak at the event and the first lecturer to be drawn from outside the circle of international cricket.The MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture was inaugurated in 2001 in memory of the late Lord Cowdrey of Tonbridge, a former president of MCC, who, together with another former president, Ted Dexter, was instrumental in the Spirit of Cricket being included as the Preamble to the 2000 Code of the Laws of Cricket.Tutu rose to prominence in the 1980s with his vigorous anti-apartheid activism in South Africa. As the chairman of the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), Tutu led a formidable crusade for justice and racial conciliation in South Africa. His tireless work was recognised in 1984, when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Then, following a short stint as the Bishop of Johannesburg, Tutu was elected the first black Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, an office he held until his retirement in 1996 (he now serves as Archbishop Emeritus). In 1996, he was appointed by Nelson Mandela to chair the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the body set up to probe gross human rights violations during apartheid. Following the presentation of the Commission’s report in October 1998, Dr Tutu has served as a visiting professor at several overseas universities and has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees from academic institutions around the world. He has published several books and collections of sermons and is widely known as a cricketing enthusiast.”Tutu is revered around the world as a moral voice and someone who speaks with gravitas on a range of issues,” Keith Bradshaw, the MCC’s secretary, said. “He’s an inspirational man who has spent a lifetime speaking out for truth and justice and I am sure that his views on the game – and the Spirit of Cricket in particular – will be hugely interesting to cricket followers around the world.”Over 500 invited guests and Members of MCC, together with many eminent figures from the cricket world, will gather in the Nursery Pavilion at Lord’s to hear the lecture.

Scorecard