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Ashley Giles, the England one-day coach, has vehemently denied accusations made by Bob Willis that England have been tampering with the ball during the Champions Trophy

David Hopps15-Jun-2013Ashley Giles, the England one-day coach, has vehemently denied accusations made by the Bob Willis that England have been tampering with the ball during the Champions Trophy.Willis, a former England captain and one of their most prolific fast bowlers, claimed on Sky Sports that there was no other reason for the umpires to change the ball part-way through Sri Lanka’s run chase at The Oval on Friday.”Let’s not beat about the bush – Aleem Dar is on England’s case,” Willis said. “He knows that one individual is scratching the ball for England – who I am not going to name – and that’s why the ball was changed.”Giles launched a strong denial ahead of England’s crucial final group match against New Zealand, which England must win to be certain of their progression in the tournament.”We don’t tamper with the ball and I hope we can talk about something else,” he said. “It is disappointing because we have a huge game, a quarter-final must-win, and there are a lot of headlines about the wrong stuff.”With the situation the other day, the ball was changed because it had gone out of shape. We asked the question, the captain asked that question to the umpires which he has a right to. The ball was changed, the rest is history.”I guess we always take allegations seriously. People have the right to say what they say, we can’t stop them. It sounds boring, but we have to focus on what we want to do. The most important thing is winning cricket matches and not what Bob Willis says.”Willis questioned the official line – universally repeated by ICC, ECB, umpires, match officials and the England captain, Alastair Cook – that the ball had been changed because it was misshapen.”Have you ever heard of the batting side complaining about the shape of the ball, or the umpires saying ‘we’re going to change the ball because it’s out of shape’?” he asked.”The bowling side change the ball because it’s out of shape because they think it’s gone soft. That’s the reason, pure and simple. How naive does Alastair Cook think we are? The ball was changed because it was out of shape? He didn’t want the ball changed, so why was it changed?”Cook has been England’s preferred ball hander during Tests. Because he sweats so little, his hands remain relatively dry and maintaining the dryness of the ball is a crucial component in getting it to reverse swing.That role has primarily been handed over to Ravi Bopara during the Champions Trophy.Giles complained: “There is even mention of one of our player’s specific roles and that player is an extremely good cricketer and has had an extremely good series so far and we would like to let him concentrate on playing his cricket as best as he can.”He insisted that reverse swing was being achieved by fair means.”The one big thing about this tournament so far, particularly at Edgbaston where we did get reverse swing, is how dry the squares are. That is a mixture of the amount of watering you are allowed to do, the new drainage systems, which saps the moisture out of the squares, and the amount of wickets that have been cut on those squares because there have been practice games and a number of internationals played on those squares.”There are loads of different methods. At Edgbaston we were probably bowling cross-seamers as early as the third or fourth over. From the boundary you go for a throw on the bounce because not everybody can throw it in on the full from 70 metres and that is permitted by the regulations, to bounce it in once.”Alastair Cook was unhappy about the ball being changed•Getty ImagesThe problem started for England when umpires Dar and Billy Bowden changed one of the two balls in the 26th over of Sri Lanka’s successful run chase at the Oval on Thursday evening.Within minutes, an ICC spokesman officially told ESPNcricinfo that the ball had been changed because it was misshapen.An ECB spokesman later took the same line, saying: “The umpires and match referee cannot talk about specific incidents during a tournament. But our understanding is that the ball was changed because it went out of shape.”England were unhappy as their attack was starting to gain reverse swing, which was key to their opening victory over Australia, with Cook leading the protests.The replacement ball moved little and Kumar Sangakkara went on to complete a superb unbeaten hundred to guide Sri Lanka to victory.After the match, Cook said: “The ball was changed because it was out of shape. The umpires make these decisions and you have to accept them. Sometimes you don’t think they are the right decisions.”Confusion also surrounded whether the officially misshapen ball went through the gauge that is used to check whether a ball is out of shape.One member of England’s management team said that the ball went through the hoop and that explained Cook’s anger, as it was still fit for purpose. But England’s fielding coach, Richard Halsall, claimed the ball did not pass through the device. Neither the ICC not the ECB has provided clarification.Australian umpire Darrell Hair, together with West Indies’ Billy Doctrove, docked Pakistan five runs for ball-tampering during a controversial Test against England in 2006.Pakistan refused to take the field and forfeited the match in protest – the first time this had happened in Test history. They were subsequently exonerated by an ICC investigation and the ensuing row ultimately cost Hair his career as a senior international umpire.However, the match officials in the England-Sri Lanka match took no similar action and the ICC explained that, as the umpires haven’t reported anything and no team has complained, they were not planning to take any action.

Zimbabwe Cricket is set to announce former international Andy Waller as the new national coach. Waller will begin the job ahead of the home series against Bangladesh

Firdose Moonda01-Apr-2013Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) is set to announce former international Andy Waller as the new national coach. Waller will begin the job ahead of the home series against Bangladesh, which begins on April 17. He was the preferred candidate from a shortlist that included assistant coach Stephen Mangongo and current batting coach Grant Flower.The fate of the rest of Zimbabwe’s support staff is not known, ESPNcricinfo has learned. Bowling coach Heath Streak has not been informed whether his contract, which expired yesterday, will be renewed and he is not part of preparations for the series against Bangladesh. Neither Streak nor Flower traveled with the team on their recent visit to the West Indies because of a change to ZC’s policy on touring parties.Waller held the role previously, in 2009, when he was coaching manager of Zimbabwe. He had also been in charge of Namibia and the Mid-West Rhinos franchise. His first task will be to reinvigorate the players, as Zimbabwe prepare to host an international side for the first time in 18 months. They play Bangladesh in two Tests in Harare, followed by three ODIs and two Twenty20s, all in Bulawayo. Bangladesh just completed a tour of Sri Lanka, where they shared the ODI series and lost the Tests and the only T20.Zimbabwe lost all seven matches they played in the Caribbean, which was Alan Butcher’s last series as coach. The lead up to the tour had been marred by controversy. Apart from the decision to leave Streak and Flower at home, there was also an intense debate between ZC and the country’s sports ministry about a new regulation concerning the composition of selection committees.In its first proposal, the ministry wanted all selectors to be former internationals, and because the Zimbabwe coach is also a selector it would have ruled out someone like Mangongo. The regulation has been relaxed but it would have had no bearing on the appointment of Waller, who represented Zimbabwe in two Tests and 39 ODIs between 1987 and 1997.Waller will succeed Butcher, who took over in March 2011 and oversaw Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket later that year, but they could not sustain their positive start. After beating Bangladesh in a one-off Test and an ODI series, Zimbabwe lost at home to Pakistan and New Zealand, were badly beaten in New Zealand and then had a break for a full year before touring West Indies.

Steven Finn, excelling in a new role as nightwatchman, struck a maiden Test and first-class fifty to make a huge contribution towards England saving the first Test in Dunedin and saving face in the bargain

The Report by David Hopps09-Mar-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsSteven Finn reached the first fifty of his first-class career•Associated PressSteven Finn, excelling in a new role as nightwatchman, struck a maiden first-class fifty to make a huge contribution towards England saving the first Test in Dunedin and saving face in the bargain. As Finn walked back to the dressing room with 56 to his name, and perhaps his first experience of pad burn after not far short of five hours at the crease, he was in danger of being rewarded with a full-time appointment to go alongside the gratitude of his team mates.Finn’s marathon resistance stretched until the second over after tea, at which point he succumbed to an ambitious slog-sweep at the left-arm spinner Bruce Martin. Spared Finn’s sudden appreciation of the art of batsmanship, New Zealand might well have triumphed. As their bowlers strove gamely for victory on a docile surface, they will also have rued the rain and bad light which prevented play on the opening day.England lost Nick Compton on a slow final morning, with Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen following in the afternoon. Ian Bell’s senseless run-out of Joe Root, thrown out second ball for nought by a direct hit from cover, kept New Zealand’s interest flickering enough in the final session to take a third new ball, but by then England’s lead was 117 with four wickets and 25 overs remaining. Bell wisely saw the job through until, with the advantage stretched to 128, the match was called off at the final drinks break.Pietersen’s out-of-sorts innings immediately invited conjecture that he might be protecting an injury and, to add to the intrigue, he watched the last rites in front of the dressing room with a large black X on his right knee. To offer such target practice was especially dangerous in New Zealand, who can invent a sport for most things and who even now are probably drawing up the rules for world championship knee archery.Pietersen, Trott and Compton fell to the unflagging left-arm swing of Neil Wagner, who will need every hour of his three days off before the second Test begins in Wellington, but New Zealand never quite got on a roll.Finn could take much credit for that. The wagon wheel, which might one day be framed in his downstairs toilet, showed five boundaries scooting off in the general direction of third man, but he generally made good use of his long reach on a pitch which slumbered to the last. James Anderson, his predecessor, has taken a battering in some of the most threatening situations Test cricket can offer, but Finn got a cushier job and relaxed into it with aplomb. Wagner did test him against the short ball eventually, but only at around 130kph and only when his eye was in.He reached his 50 from 142 balls, angling Wagner through gully, but then decided to take stock, scratched a new guard and did not score for the next hour and a quarter. His next single brought ironic applause from the Barmy Army and a blast from Billy Cooper’s trumpet. It was just as well that he did dig in because Trott fell for 52 in the same over, Wagner taking a good leaping catch in his follow-through from a leading edge, and Pietersen soon followed to an inside edge from a nondescript shot.Perhaps Pietersen was just having one of those days. Just as he is intoxicated by the big occasion, he can run on empty if a game feels flat. If he guested in a club knockabout, there is every chance that somebody would get him out for nought, just as there would be every chance that Finn would get a hundred.Finn escaped a couple of tough chances; in the first over of the day edging very low towards Dean Brownlie at third slip and later, on 37, sending an edge between the slips off Kane Williamson. The middle of the bat often proved elusive, especially when compared to the timing shown by Trott, but his stay was testament to the work England’s bowlers put in their batting.England began the day still 59 runs behind and a couple of early wickets, with the second new ball still new, would have opened the door for New Zealand. However, it took them more than an hour to make the breakthrough which came when Wagner swung one back into Compton’s pads who, for a moment, considered the review before deciding, wisely as replays showed, that it would have been a waste.Compton’s seven-hour innings – 117 from 310 balls – was a study in concentration and determination. He was given a warm ovation as he walked off, his father Richard leading the applause from the crowd, and was safe in knowledge that his Test berth is now secure.Trott’s half-century was effortless, a punchy straight drive off Martin emphasising that there would be no last-day encouragement for the spinner, who instead continued to toil on a dead surface.England made only 53 from 28 overs between lunch and tea and Finn was responsible for 14 of them. But the overs were ticking down and for England, that was all that mattered.

Mitchell McClenaghan will stay back in South Africa for the two-match Test series starting January 2

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Dec-2012New Zealand and Auckland left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenaghan will stay back in South Africa for the two-match Test series starting January 2. McClenaghan replaces Tim Southee, who was ruled out last week due to a thumb injury.McClenaghan, 26, played the two Twenty20 internationals on the current tour, picking up a wicket in each game. “With Tim Southee’s injury and Mark Gillespie being unavailable due to injury we have taken the opportunity to add Mitchell McClenaghan to the Test squad for the two match series against South Africa,” New Zealand coach Mike Hesson said. “Mitchell has been an impressive performer over the past couple of domestic seasons and deserves this opportunity following a promising start to International Cricket during the T20 series in South Africa.”Mitchell is a talented and exciting young fast bowler who has the ability to unsettle batsmen with his pace and bounce. We are confident if the opportunity arises during the tour he will perform well during the Test series.”McClenaghan has played 26 first-class matches, collecting 76 wickets at 39.03. This Plunket Shield season, he’s played four matches and taken 14 wickets at 34.85. He said his raw pace was an asset. “I can definitely feel like I can bowl a good spell of heat and hopefully put them on the back foot.”

Fifties by opener Shitanshu Kotak, captain Jaydev Shah and Sheldon Jackson kept Saurashtra in the hunt for a challenging first-innings total on the first day of their Ranji Trophy semi-final against Punjab

Amol Karhadkar in Rajkot16-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThe Saurashtra veteran Shitanshu Kotak made 54•ESPNcricinfo LtdPalam in Delhi may have been stealing much of the attention in what is being termed as the sequel to David versus Goliath of this Ranji Trophy season, with Services taking on Mumbai after having surprised Uttar Pradesh in the quarter-finals. However, the television cameras were in place at the Khandheri stadium on the outskirts of Rajkot, with hosts Saurashtra taking on Punjab. And except for the pitch and the cameras, there was nothing common with Khandheri of five days ago.Then, with India taking on England in an ODI, the Rajkot-Jamnagar highway had turned into a fair. Since the stadium was hosting its maiden international game, every single seat was occupied. Cut to Wednesday. With Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja – the two famous cricketing sons of Saurashtra – missing in action, it didn’t matter to Kathiawaris that a Ranji semi-final was being played in their region. And had it not been for Harbhajan Singh’s star attraction, the crowd of 20 at the start of the day wouldn’t have swelled to 200 by the end of it.Harbhajan may not have had as much of an impact as expected by those who turned up. But they were entertained by three batsmen from their home team. Fifties by opener Shitanshu Kotak, captain Jaydev Shah and Sheldon Jackson kept Saurashtra in the hunt for a challenging first-innings total.On a wicket that had a tinge of live grass – kept more for binding it together for the better part of five days rather than assisting seamers – it didn’t come as a surprise when Shah chose to bat on the batsmen’s paradise. It was Punjab who struck an early blow. Siddarth Kaul and his new-ball partner Sandeep Sharma had shared 79 wickets this season coming into this game. In the fourth over, Kaul got one to nip back from a good length and Sagar Jogiyani was left stranded in his crease, watching the off stump cart-wheeling after the ball ricocheted off his pads.Kaul also got rid of Rahul Dave, playing in place of the run-machine Pujara, who had to join the Indian ODI squad after scoring 352 in last week’s quarter-final against Karnataka. Dave fished at one outside off to offer Siddarth’s elder brother Uday a catch behind the wickets.At 58 for 2, Punjab would have wanted to their opponents to fold up just like they did on the first morning of their league game in Mohali two months ago. But the senior-most members of the side – Kotak and Shah – not only prevented a collapse but ensured that Saurashtra had a respectable, if not imposing, score with a 92-run partnership.While Shah was his usual self, having a go at anything that was pitched up to him, Kotak didn’t go into a shell as he often does in such situations. The 40-year-old veteran was leaving balls outside off as well as always. What came as a pleasant surprise was when he drove the medium-pacers with élan whenever presented with an opportunity.With two left-handers at the crease, Harbhajan, who came on in the 20th over, bowled an extended spell either side of the lunch break. And his persistence finally paid off when Kotak’s attempted cut off a ball that was too close to his body ended up being a glide into Mandeep Singh’s safe hands at first slip almost an hour after lunch. Shah carried on with his assault, lofting Harbhajan straight over his head soon after raising his fifty.With Shah not budging against Harbhajan and the legspinner Sarabjit Ladda, the Punjab captain finally introduced left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma – who replaced Gurkeerat Singh from the XI that overcame Jharkhand in the quarter-finals – in the 57th over. And the move paid off immediately. Thirteen runs short of what would have been his fifth first-class century, Shah holed out to Sandeep at long-on off Bipul’s fourth ball.Jackson played a solid knock despite losing the promising young batsman Aarpit Vasavada. Jackson was fortunate towards the end of the day when an edge was held by a diving Harbhajan at wide slip. Replays showed Kaul had some part of his foot behind the line when he landed, but dragged it out at the time of release.

Cheteshwar Pujara, returning to the Indian side after a year and a half, says he is treating his comeback as a ‘second debut’

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Aug-2012Cheteshwar Pujara, recalled into the Test squad for the New Zealand series, is treating his comeback as his “second debut”. One of the impressive young batsmen to have come out in the last five years on the domestic circuit, Pujara was a popular choice to take a place in the Indian middle order once the top guns walked out of the game. And with two berths opening up after the retirements of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, Pujara feels he is “motivated and passionate” while not being fussy about his position in the batting order.Pujara, who made a match-winning debut in Bangalore against Australia in 2010, played just two further Tests before a knee injury in IPL 2011 sidelined him for six months. Recovering from the surgery, he missed out on the home series against West Indies late last year, but was eager to get a ticket for the Australia tour. However, the selectors did not have enough confidence since Pujara, who plays for Saurashtra, had not had quality match practice.Pujara made just 200 runs during last season’s Ranji Trophy, but stronger performances on the recent India A tour of the West Indies, where he topped the run-charts, put him back in the reckoning. “I have been working hard on making a comeback. It has been delayed because there were not many games but I did whatever I could in domestic format and with India A. But I do not want to rush. I’m going to be calm and play my natural game,” Pujara told ESPNcricinfo immediately after being picked for the Tests.Making a comeback was never going to be easy. Pujara was hurt by some pundits questioning his fitness levels. But, working alongside his father Arvind, his driving force and mentor, Pujara made the finer adjustments to his batting. “When you come back after a six-month lay-off it is difficult to straightaway catch the rhythm. You need to start from the scratch. But once you cross those hurdles then you get mentally tough,” Pujara said. He knew he could not throw away a lifetime of hard work. “I am fully motivated. This is the moment I have always worked hard for. There is hunger and passion about playing at the highest level. It is once again a debut game for me.”Mentally adept and patient, Pujara, who is only 24, has blended those qualities with his batting skills which have remained sound and fluent from his age-group cricket days. Though the likes of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have made more headlines in the last year, Pujara has remained a favourite to take the important No. 3 slot vacated by Dravid. It was the same position he batted in the nets today in Hyderabad during the Indian training session, with Kohli at No. 5; the other two contenders – Rahane and S Badrinath – batted late down the order.However, Pujara does not want to be picky about his position in the batting order. “It is a team game so most of the time you have to see the comfort of the team, not your own. As a batsman I need to be flexible. I am a youngster who is making a comeback and not someone who is settled in the batting order so I should not be demanding. Yes, once I prove myself at a particular position then I can say I would like to bat at this number.”

Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, has been offered a contract with Wellington for the domestic season starting this year

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jul-2012Jesse Ryder, the New Zealand batsman, has been offered a contract with Wellington for the domestic season starting this year. Earlier this year, New Zealand Cricket and Ryder had agreed to avoid a national central contract – Ryder had been dropped from the New Zealand squad in March for breaking team protocol – but he had declared himself available to play for Wellington for the 2012-13 domestic season.Left-arm spinner Ronnie Hira, who played for Auckland Aces, has won a contract with Canterbury Wizards. Wicketkeeper Reece Young, who played for Canterbury, returned to Auckland.New Zealand’s six major associations have announced the first round of domestic contracts for 2012-13. The contracting process involves two rounds with the associations being allowed to pick 9 to 13 players in the first, and complete the process to have a final list of 14 in the second, which will be announced on August 9 this year.The two-stage process, according to a New Zealand Cricket release, was geared towards ensuring more competition for the final contracts and that the best players were contracted across the country. Five of the six associations have announced lists of 13; Northern Knights have named nine players.The domestic contracts offered today commence on October 1, 2012.Auckland Aces: Dean Bartlett, Michael Bates, Colin de Grandhomme, Gareth Hopkins, Anaru Kitchen, Bruce Martin, Michael McClenaghan, Tim McIntosh, Colin Munro, Bhupinder Singh, Daryl Tuffey, Lou Vincent, Reece Young.Canterbury Wizards: Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Brad Cachopa, Peter Fulton, Matt Henry, Ronnie Hira, Tom Latham, Willie Lonsdale, Ryan McCone, Henry Nicholls, Shanan Stewart, Logan van Beek, George Worker.Central Stags: Carl Cachopa, Jamie How, Marty Cain, Andrew Mathieson, Adam Milne, Kieran Noema-Barnett, Jeet Raval, Dean Robinson, Mathew Sinclair, Bevan Small, Ben Smith, Ben Wheeler, William Young.Northern Knights: Graeme Aldridge, Corey Anderson, Brent Arnel, James Baker, Anton Devcich, James Marshall, Daryl Mitchell, Brad Wilson, Joseph Yovich.Otago Volts: Derek de Boorder, Nick Beard, Michael Bracewell, Darren Broom, Neil Broom, Ian Butler, Mark Craig, James McMillan, Jimmy Neesham, Aaron Redmond, Hamish Rutherford, Neil Wagner, Sam Wells.Wellington Firebirds: Harry Boam, Josh Brodie, Grant Elliott, Mark Gillespie, Scott Kuggeleijn, Andy McKay, Stephen Murdoch, Michael Papps, Jeetan Patel, Michael Pollard, Luke Ronchi, Jesse Ryder, Luke Woodcock.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have picked up Andrew McDonald, the allrounder from Australia, from the Delhi Daredevils for the 2012 IPL season

Tariq Engineer11-Jan-2012Royal Challengers Bangalore have picked up Andrew McDonald, the allrounder from Australia, from the Delhi Daredevils for the 2012 IPL season, the IPL has said. Harmeet Singh, the Punjab medium-pacer, has also moved from Deccan Chargers to Kings XI Punjab.According to a Daredevils official, the transfer fee for McDonald was US$100,000. McDonald played only one game for the Daredevils in 2011. In his three seasons with the team, he played just six games, scoring 76 runs and taking five wickets.”All-rounders are a priceless asset and we are pleased to add Andrew to our squad,” Sidhartha Mallya, the director of Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, said. “He has excelled with bat and ball in different formats. We have no doubt that he will make a big difference to our prospects in the coming IPL season.”TA Sekar, the head of cricket for Daredevils owner GMR Sports, said McDonald “would fit in well with the Royal Challengers.”McDonald is currently playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League, where he has made 156 runs from five games at an average of 52.00 and a strike-rate of 136.84.Harmeet played two games for the Chargers in 2011, picking up three wickets at an economy rate of 7.57.Harmeet and McDonald were the fourth and fifth players to be traded during the current transfer window. Dinesh Karthik moved from Kings XI to the Mumbai Indians for a record $2.35 million, with R Sathish heading in the opposite direction. Kevin Pietersen was transferred to the Daredevils from the Chargers.”The process of player-transfers during the trading window is gaining in momentum, and we are likely to see more action in the days leading up to 20 January 2012, when the first part of the window will close,” Rajeev Shukla, the IPL chairman, said.There will be another short window for trading after the February 4 auction in which the players of now-terminated franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala will be sold. The 2012 IPL will run from April 4 to May 27.

In the wake of the widespread allegations of embezzlement of the BCCI grants at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), the Indian board has asked its auditors to investigate the matter and prepare a detailed report on the situation

Nagraj Gollapudi31-Mar-2012In the wake of the widespread allegations of embezzlement of the BCCI grants at the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), the Indian board has decided to take action and has asked its auditors to investigate the matter and prepare a detailed report on the situation.

Even as his name has featured in the alleged financial scam at the JKCA, Muhammad Aslam Goni was in Johannesburg, as the manager of the India team for the one-off Twenty20 played on Friday evening at the Wanderers against South Africa. Though he was appointed to the post by the BCCI, no board official would comment on the appointment.

“We are asking the auditors to check the JKCA accounts and report back to us,” Anurag Thakur, the BCCI joint-secretary, told ESPNcricinfo. According to Thakur there was no deadline set and a final call on the matter would be taken by the BCCI president N Srinivasan once the auditor’s report was ready.The allegations came to light when Muhammad Aslam Goni, the JKCA managing committee chairman, lodged an FIR with the police on March 10 against Ahsan Mirza and Mohammad Saleem Khan – the JKCA general secretary and chief administrative officer respectively – accusing the duo of pushing the BCCI funds into bogus bank accounts created in the name of the association.But on March 21, Goni himself was dragged into the controversy when majority of the 62 JKCA working committee members claimed Goni, too, was involved in the scam and demanded he resign from the chairman’s position. The working committee requested JKCA president Farooq Abdullah to dissolve the current management committee and organise fresh elections at the end of April.

Misbah-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s captain, has said his team is full of confidence after their run of form in 2011

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2011Pakistan expectedly wrapped up the first Test against Bangladesh on the fourth day, giving them their fifth win in their previous nine Tests – this one by an innings-and-184-runs. That run of form, encompassing the last 12 months, includes series wins over New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.One of the factors in Pakistan’s consistent run has been the captaincy of Misbah-ul-Haq, who took over in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal in 2010. Misbah, however, chose to give his team the credit after their latest triumph.”I think if the team is doing well then credit goes to everyone, which also includes the captain,” Misbah said. “But the main thing is players are important in the team. If they are not performing, the captain can’t do anything. For which I think the credit goes to every player. They are putting in their efforts and fulfilling their responsibilities. That’s why the team is winning.”Misbah put his team’s determination to win matches down to their reaction to the spot-fixing scandal which could have easily thrown them into disarray. “I think the way we are performing, you can say what happened with Pakistan cricket, the boys have come out really strong and all wanted to do well. It’s the reason behind that. The day controversies hit the team, I think the boys had it set in their mind that they will prove that they are a good cricket team and good players.”While Pakistan’s recent string of results have naturally infused the side with confidence, Misbah said the spark came from their series against South Africa last year, where Pakistan fought to draw both Tests. “The confidence comes from the performances. When you are performing as a team game by game and you are performing well, the confidence is building. This is really helping us as a team. The series against South Africa in October last year was a big test for us. We played really strong against them in the two Test matches and at that time South Africa was one of the best Test sides.”After that the team got the confidence as every player performed in that series which kept on building in every match after that.”Misbah felt that Bangladesh were under huge pressure in Chittagong as they collapsed for 135 in the first innings. Though they made a better fist of it in the second to reach 275, it was mostly a struggle. “In the first innings they got out easily and once you get out easily on a flat track I think it’s difficult to make the comeback. That helped us. They lacked in confidence. A batsmen is helped if he is consistently scoring runs. If you are not scoring runs, it becomes difficult to stand strong as a batsman.”Pakistan’s decision to field was vindicated by the result and Misbah said that it was a strategy they had been employing for some time now. “We managed to exploit the wicket with our bowlers in the first two sessions of the first day. For the last two years we have been doing this and so far we have been able to take good advantage of it. Once we have the target in our mind, the bowlers and the batsmen together performed really well. So if we ever find even a little advantage for the bowlers, we choose to bowl first.”