Pakistan cricket chief Shaharyar Khan on Monday declared that his country’s dented pride was restored at the same venue where it was dented six years ago.
The 75-run win in the first Test against England on Sunday is widely seen as a matter of restored pride for Pakistan at Lord’s, where three of their players — Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir — were caught spot-fixing in 2010.
Shaharyar Khan said: “That dented pride and stained image are restored and there are three reasons for that,” Khan told scoreline.org
“The first, there was a huge public support from Pakistan as well as in England. There was big support for Misbah-ul-Haq and Amir and that showed people were backing us.
“I have been receiving congratulatory messages from around the world. Even Jordan King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein called me and congratulated us on the win.”
Khan said the second reason was the remarkable unity the team showed.
“Under Misbah players showed great unity and the third thing was the team staff was praised by players and our new coach Mickey Arthur proved his professional attitude.”
Pakistan’s top builder Malik Riaz announced GBP 50,000 for the team and Khan saidket will also reward the players.
“I am hosting a dinner for the team and we will also announce cash awards for the team if they win the series. In the meantime, it’s a great victory to savour.”