Talking 'Dawn' late on Thursday night, the new PCB chairman Khalid Mahmood said that Chief Executive Majid Khan and Secretary Waqar Ahmad conveyed the reaction to the South African cricket boss Ali Bacher during their telephonic conversation with him. Ali Bacher had publicly apologised for the ``mugging'' of the Pakistani players Muhammad Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq and conveyed his sentiments to the PCB.

``I talked to the Pakistani players on telephone. particularly, I told vice-captain Aamir Sohail and skipper Rashid Latif to keep up the morale of boys rather than become psychologically bogged down by the unfortunate incident'', said Khalid Mahmood in a firm tone.

While replying to a question, the new chairman Khalid Mahmood said that the PCB was studying the developments in South Africa very carefully and would decided to send a couple of suitable replacements for the injured players after fully assessing the requirements.

As for the 'mugging' of players, Khalid Mahmood said that Dr. Ali Bacher had regretted why the players Muhammad Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq did not ask to provide conveyance and security for their movement from the hotel. Perhaps, that could have saved them from the 'unfortunate tragedy.'