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KARACHI, April 21: Pakistan suffered a body blow to their prospects of regaining the World Cup when team coach Javed Miandad resigned just six days before the squad leaves for England.

The 42-year-old cricket genius faxed his resignation to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Khalid Mahmood at Lahore at about 3:00 p.m.

Miandad was appointed last September and his contract was to run till the end of the World Cup in June. He cited ``pressing family commitments''. But sources close to the former captain said he took the extreme decision after assessing that his position in the team had become tenuous after the appointment of Richard Pybus as technical coach and Sarfaraz Nawaz as fast bowlers coach.

Miandad, while talking to Dawn, also insisted that the decision should not be mixed up with newspaper reports of conflicts between him and some senior players.

``I still maintain that I have good relations with the players,'' he emphasised.

``I wish the team good luck in the World Cup and hope and pray that the Cup returns to Pakistan,'' Miandad wrote in his resignation letter.

Khalid Mahmood, when contacted in Lahore, admitted that he has received Miandad's resignation but remained noncommittal if his resignation would be accepted.

``Javed (Miandad) was appointed by the executive council so it was the final authority to accept or reject it,'' Mahmood told Dawn.

With the executive council meeting slated for May 1 and 2 at Karachi, the team is all set to proceed to England without a coach. Pybus was expected to join the team either on 28th or 29th.

Pakistan is bracketed with Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Scotland and will play the opening game against the West Indies at Bristol on May 16.

``I am shocked,'' Mahmood said, admitting: ``I have been taken by surprise. If you say what the PCB would do now, well, we don't know. We hadn't prepared a contingency plan (for this).''

The PCB chairman said he was in no position to say if a replacement would be announced or Pybus would be elevated as coach. ``All these issues will be discussed in the executive council meeting at Karachi.''

Mahmood said he expected Javed Miandad to contact him. ``If he had any problems, he should have approached me. The PCB had drawn a plan for the World Cup and in that Javed Miandad had a special place. We wanted a status quo but if he doesn't want to continue, what can one do.''

Miandad, during a conversation with Dawn on Wednesday evening, refused to answer any questions sticking to what he had said in his resignation.

Miandad's resignation letter reads: ``Due to pressing family commitments, I would not be in a position to continue my assignment as a coach of the Pakistan cricket team. It is therefore, with regret, that I tender my resignation with immediate effect.

``I take this opportunity to thank you (PCB chairman) for your help, guidance and support during my tenure as coach.

``I wish the team good luck in the World Cup and hope and pray that the Cup returns to Pakistan.''

According to sources in the cricket board, Mahmood had a long meeting with the PCB officials after receiving Miandad's resignation. Surprisingly, Majid Khan, the chief executive, didn't attend the conference.

Mahmood, with reference to reports that Miandad had a clash with senior players during the Sharjah Champions Trophy match against England which Pakistan lost by 62 runs and unidentified players claims' that he didn't share the 70,000 dirham reward given by a businessman after the final win over India, said: ``I haven't investigated the matter. But I will ask the secretariat to find out what happened in Sharjah.''

Mahmood, on Tuesday, had said the PCB and players dressing room was like a family and he wouldn't like to discuss issues which shouldn't be known to public.

Mahmood was in Sharjah as Cricketers Benefit Fund Series (CBFS) guest and according to team sources, players had lodged a protest against Miandad with him.

But Mahmood insisted that the players didn't approach him.

When asked if the morale of the team would be dented with this unpleasant development, Mahmood said: ``No I don't think so. The team is alright and the morale of the team is still high. I don't think this should have any effect on the team.''

Miandad, when contacted in the afternoon about three hours before tendering his resignation, had said he was a very dejected and upset man.

``I did my best but still the news reports which have appeared recently have broken my heart. I gave my best on the field and off the field (in Sharjah) requested my businessmen friends to give the team cash awards after they won the tournament,'' he had said.

Miandad, who is the only cricketer to have appeared in all the previous six World Cups, emphatically denied reports that he didn't distribute 70,000 dirhams amongst the players. ``You can ask that man as well as manager of the team that the businessmen had individually given cash awards of 1,500 dirhams enclosed in an envelope to each player.''

Miandad is widely considered as the mastermind behind resurgent Pakistan as one of the World Cup favourites after demoralizing defeats in the home series against Australia and Zimbabwe.

Miandad, country's leading run-getter in Tests and one-day internationals with 8,832 and 7,381 runs respectively, coached Pakistan for 10 Tests and 23 one-day internationals. Pakistan won three Tests and lost as many while won 15 one-dayers out of 23.

Wasim Akram shocked

Wasim Akram denied any rift and said he was shocked by Miandad's resignation.

``It is a shocking decision,'' Wasim told AFP. ``We were working together as a close-knit unit and the results proved this.''

Miandad's resignation on the eve of the World Cup ``may affect the team's performance,'' the skipper said. But the decision had come because of family commitments and ``no one can do anything'' about it, he said.

He said Miandad was a ``great coach'' and rejected reports of a bust-up.

``We have beaten India in India, lifted the Asian championship and the Sharjah Cup, which would not have been possible had there been any rift.''