Mir denies any player was individually interrogated

Updated at 325 PM

KINGSTON: Pakistan team manager Pervez Mir has rubbished media reports that two Pakistani players had been asked to stay back in Jamaica till an inquest in the
murder of cricket coach Bob Woolmer was over.

According to TV Jamaica, the two unnamed Pakistani players have been asked to remain in the country while an inquest was conducted before a jury and the rest of the team was free to leave.

But Mir said "this news is new to me because their is no such news here... It indeed is an embarrassment to even hear something like this, even the police is embarassed that these kind of news items are floating around."

Mir said the players had given their statements and would leave the Caribbean country on Saturday.

"The players have given statements and we will leave tomorrow for London en route to Pakistan. Everything is so defined, whatever requirements and what whatever necessary interviews were to be undertaken by us and by other people had been done," he was quoted as saying by a TV channel.

Mir, in fact, denied that any player was individually interrogated by the Jamaican police.

"Pakistan team was never in the first instance a suspect. There is no question that at any given time Pakistan team was a suspect to this horrible incident.

"No individual player was ever been questioned by the police or asked to give come and give a statement," he said.

Shahid Afridi also denied the TVJ report, saying that the entire team would fly out of the Caribbean on Saturday.

"There are no restriction on our travelling to Pakistan and our bagged and things are packed and we would flying home as per schedule on Saturday evening. Inzamam-ul-Haq and others are fine," Afridi was quoted by the Associated Press of Pakistan.

The hard-hitting all-rounder also hit back at reports about Pakistani players being involved in Woolmer's murder.

"It's all rubbish and smearing campaign against Pakistan team that they are involved in the murder of coach Bob Woolmer," Afridi said.

Afridi, who did not play in the first two matches due to ban, however, confirmed DNA tests were carried out on the Pakistani players.