I have brotherly ties with Misbah: Hafeez

Pakistan's Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez rubbished rumours of a rift between himself and ODI and Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and called upon the media in the country to act responsibly. Hafeez also scoffed at suggestions that he was interested in securing captaincy in all three formats.

"I have brotherly relations with Misbah that will always remain so. I have no obsession to become captain as my only motive is to represent Pakistan. Captaincy cannot be snatched. Hatching conspiracies have never been part of my career. All the players are like a family and are supportive of each other," Hafeez told the Express Tribune.

Just days earlier, Pakistani media reported a serious dispute between one-day captain Misbah-ul Haq and Twenty20 skipper Mohammad Hafeez over the selection of the team.

"Misbah and Hafeez have developed serious differences over the selection of the final eleven and it has come to an extent that both are not on talking terms," a leading Urdu newspaper reported, quoting sources in the team.

Former paceman Sikander Bakht said Hafeez wants to displace Misbah as one-day captain. "Hafeez scored 86 in the Twenty20 win so he must be flying high and now wants to take over as one-day captain," Bakht said in a television interview, referring to Hafeez's match-winning knock in Pakistan's 95-run win at Centurion last Sunday.

But the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said it conducted an inquiry with the team management and found the reports were baseless. "The PCB high- ups launched a thorough inquiry, contacted the team management in South Africa and it was discovered that no such disagreement whatsoever existed amongst the think tank, or between Misbah and Hafeez," the PCB said in a statement. Hafeez also shot back, asking the media to state facts. "I request the media not to put its personal opinion or belief in the news," he said.