Gul shrugs off ball-tampering murmurs

Umar Gul, the leading wicket-taker of the World Twenty20, shrugged off Daniel Vettori's questioning of the early reverse-swing he achieved in the tournament, and said that since the team management had responded to Vettori's veiled references to ball-tampering, he had not taken them seriously.

"I think the art of reverse-swing is also God gifted which can be improved through practice," Gul told reporters after returning to a rapturous welcome in his hometown of Nawa Killi, near Peshawar. "I watched Wasim Akram and Waqar [Younis]'s bowling videos and developed this art through repeated practice. Whenever an Asian bowler performs and uses the reverse-swing the western cricketing countries raise the issue of ball-tampering against them," Gul said.

Gul also praised assistant coach Aaqib Javed, whose pep talk he said, had inspired the team to turn its game around. "Allah has helped the Pakistani team in their game plan, the team management and bowling coach Aaqib Javed told the players that like in World Cup of 1992 the guys must show the zeal to reach the wining stand and it happened when our team showed commitment."

Gul was also leading wicket-taker in the inaugural tournament two years ago and in the run to the title this time, he recorded the first-ever five-wicket haul in a T20I against New Zealand. Gul said he was unaware that he had just completed the best-ever figures of the international format. "When I came out of the ground, I came to know the fact that I have made a world record."

Pakistan's next assignment is a tour to Sri Lanka - three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s - beginning next week with a three-day warm-up match in Colombo. Gul was optimistic that the team would quickly adjust to the longer format and to conditions in Sri Lanka.

Shahzaib Hasan, the 19-year-old opener, who made his debut in the World Twenty20, said he was aiming to make the one-day squad for the series against Sri Lanka. Shahzaib said the trip to England was a dream debut for him and the senior players had boosted his confidence and helped him through the tournament.

"Younis Khan kept his confidence in me and now I believe that I could do well in future and perform for my country internationally," Shahzaib said. "I will always remember the match in which I played against New Zealand and scored 35 runs. The catch of [Tillakaratne] Dilshan which I took in the final has also been engraved in my memory forever." Shahzaib, who replaced the out-of-form Salman Butt in the side, scored 77 runs at a strike-rate of 106.94 from four matches.