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DUBAI: Pakistan is hoping a strong performance in its upcoming series against South Africa will help the team put the match fixing scandal behind it and start gaining back the confidence of its beleaguered fans.
The team, which arrived in the United Arab Emirates early Sunday, will be without former captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who have been provisionally suspended by the ICC following allegations that they accepted money to bowl deliberate no-balls during a test against England in order to fix spot-betting markets.
South Africa's team was due to arrive later Sunday.
Before departing for the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan coach Waqar Younis admitted the England tour had taken a toll on his players and the biggest scandal in a decade to hit cricket had done serious damage to the sport.
But he said he was confident they would bounce back against South Africa.
“Our team is pretty balanced and I am hopeful that we will win Twenty20s,” Younis said.
“When it comes to limited-overs cricket, they are very fine side. It will be tough competition, I hope the boys are focused and will continue to focus.”
Pakistan will play two Twenty20 internationals, five one-day internationals and two test matches against South Africa starting Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.
Despite Pakistan's troubles off the pitch, the series is attracting plenty of attention in the United Arab Emirates.
The Emirates Cricket Board said no sponsors have pulled out and that ticket sales were brisk. There are hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis working in the country and the series will be broadcast as planned in South Africa and Pakistan.
South Africa's cricket body has avoided the fixing scandal since it broke in August. And despite initial reports of players grumbling about playing Pakistan, Cricket South Africa said the series would go ahead as planned.
Since then, CSA has portrayed the matches against Pakistan as vital buildup for the home series against India, starting in December, and next year's World Cup.
Graeme Smith, South Africa's ODI and test captain, said before departing for the United Arab Emirates that the team's job is “to go there and play competitive cricket.”
But Smith acknowledged it would be difficult to avoid the fact that they are playing a team which is still coping with the scandal.
“You can't hide from what happened and we are not trying to hide from it. We have got to focus on ourselves and make sure that we play the kind of cricket that we want to,” he said.
“We are trying to not get involved in the other stuff. As I say, we have got to trust the International Cricket Council and the people in the investigation that that is going to be handled properly and we have got to trust the anti-corruption unit that they are doing their jobs properly.”
The team's manager, Mohammed Moosajee, said they have been in touch with the ICC and were taking their own precautions in light of the scandal.
“From Cricket South Africa's perspective, what we are doing is taking along our own close protection officer who is already there and his role will be to liaise with the anti-corruption unit just to make sure everything has been put into place,” Moosajee said.
Since 1995, South Africa has won five of the seven test series played against Pakistan with one draw.
South Africa has been in fine form recently, winning a Twenty20 series over Zimbabwe 2-0 and sweeping the three-match, one-day series against Zimbabwe. Those matches were played without some of its top players, including fast bowler Dale Steyn and batsman Jacques Kallis who are recovering from injuries.
Despite their recent dominance, Smith said Pakistan cannot be taken lightly even as it battles the off-pitch distractions.
“Pakistan cricket has always had something going on. They have always been dealing with the odd controversy here and there,” Smith said.
“I think their players are quite used to dealing with that sort of stuff and I think it makes them dangerous,” he continued.
“They are the type of team that can beat you on any given day and they are a dangerous team to play. You can't afford to take them for granted. They have got talented players, they have got some really good fast bowlers, they have got some spin, so they cover a lot of bases. We are going to have to be at our best to be competitive on this tour.” -AP
