Karachi, Nov 23 : The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has taken a serious note of the comments made by former Pakistan cricket captain Javed Miandad, who was a couple of days ago appointed as the new Director General of the PCB, accusing the BCCI of ‘bullying tactics’.

In one of the interviews after taking up the new assignment, Miandad said that the PCB was under a lot of pressure from the public and the media to include breakaway ICL players in the national team.

He also accused the BCCI of ‘bullying tactics’ which have caused players to suffer.

According to sources, an unidentified BCCI official expressed the Board’s annoyance over Miandad’s comments with a senior PCB official during a telephonic conversation on Saturday.

Karachi, Nov 23 : Amid claims made by disgraced and suspended Pakistani fast bowler Mohammad Asif that he was being approached by the “rebel” Indian Cricket League (ICL) with a lucrative offer, reliable sources have said that Asif was simply blackmailing the PCB by spreading false rumours about the “ICL offer”.

A source close to former Pakistan captain Moin Khan, who is the sole ICL recruiting agent in the country, said that the rebel league had no intentions of signing up the dope-tainted Pakistan pacer.

Asif is presently locked in an expensive legal battle to avoid a possible two-year ban after testing positive for a banned drug while playing in the official Indian Premier League (IPL) this May.

Bangalore, Nov. 22 : England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen has warned that the one-day international to be played at Guwahati, could also be decided by the Duckworth-Lewis rules, as bad light could curtail play.

Guwahati is the venue for the sixth one-dayer on November 29.

"They [the authorities] will have to do something about Guwahati. We are going to start there at 8.30 a. m. but that will still not make too much of a difference. It could get dark there by 3.30 p. m.," Cricinfo quoted Pietersen, as saying.

Guwahati is located in the north east and the sun sets earlier in the region than elsewhere in India.

Karachi, Nov 22 : Temperamental Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is looking for a successful Test return, has received a shot in the arm in the form new chief selector Abdul Qadir.

Given Shoaib’s past track record — his habit of flirting with controversy and a knack for picking up injuries — Qadir still says Shoaib is a big asset for Pakistan cricket.

“Shoaib Akhtar is an asset. He is a wicket-taking bowler, who still has a lot to offer to Pakistan cricket,” The News quoted Qadir, as saying.

Lahore, Nov 22: The father-in-law of banned Pakistani opener Imran Farhat, Muhammad Ilyas, has been appointed by the PCB as chairman of the national junior selection committee.

Illyas, a former opener, has played 10 official and unofficial Tests, with a combined average of 43.2 for Pakistan.

Farhat is currently playing with his brother Humayun in the ICL.