Younis fumes at ball-tampering allegations against Gul

London:

As the ghost of ball-tampering once again came haunting Pakistan at the Oval with star bowler Umar Gul now in the spot, a fuming captain Younis Khan has hit back at those making allegations and said the ball would wear down due to the slam-bang nature of the Twenty20 format.

Younis said it was "very embarrassing" for his team in the match against Ireland on Monday when umpires were checking the ball at every instance.

"We are not cheating, but today was very embarrassing. All the time the umpires were checking the ball, and there are plenty of cameras, so how could we cheat? It's not good," Younis said.

"Don't embarrass a team like Pakistan, we already have a lot of controversies in the whole world, and we are suffering a lot of things. Forget these things and focus on the game.

"Let the cameras catch it if anything is happening with the ball. In this game a lot of sixes are hit, and the ball goes in the crowd, and hits the concrete," he added.

Gul's bowling action was questioned by New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, who claimed after the Lord's defeat that he had never seen any bowler achieve reverse-swing as early as the 12th over of an international fixture.

Recalling the last incident at the same venue when Inzamam-ul Haq-led Pakistan was made to forfeit a Test match against England by umpires Darrell Hair and Billy Doctrove, Younis wondered why such incidents happened with them only in England.

"And every time it is happening in England. Why? We have good actions and we have pace. So don't disrupt a boy like Umar Gul, he has a good reputation," he said.

"For reverse swing you need pace and a good action, and Gul has a good action. It is an art, it is not cheating, and Umar knows the art, especially in Twenty20s. In every single game he performs like that," he added.