Cook rubbishes Gul's ball-tampering charge against Anderson, Broad

England's one-day international captain Alastair Cook on Monday rubbished Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul's charge that fast bowlers James Anderson and Stuart Broad indulged in ball-tampering.

Gul had claimed that Anderson tampered with the ball during Pakistan's tour of England last year and Broad did it too in the Ashes series in Australia.

Cook, before leaving with the team for the ODI series in India, asserted that Anderson and Broad have not tampered with the ball.

"We certainly have not tampered with the ball and if he did have any complaints, he should have gone to the ICC (International Cricket Council) over that," Cook was quoted as saying by the daily Telegraph.

"I think he (Gul) has almost said himself that it has been a bit of a mountain out of a molehill."

Gul had said: "During our series against England last year I saw Anderson was doing it (ball tampering). Against Australia, when they (England) won the Ashes, everyone saw Broad use his shoe to scratch the ball."

Meanwhile, Cook reckoned that it will be "incredibly tough" to beat India in the five-match away series, beginning October 14 in Hyderabad.

"I certainly think we can beat India," Cook said.

"It will be incredibly tough. We need everyone to be playing very well. We all know what the one-day crowds are like over there. They love their cricket."

"Delivering our skills when 50,000 or 60,000 people are screaming and when balls are flying all over the place will also be a key factor, but certainly with this squad I think we can do something really special."

SHOAIB MALIK WORKING HARD TO IMPROVE HIS BOWLING

Former Pakistan captain and current all-rounder, Shoaib Malik, has said that he is working really hard to improve his bowling as it could prove to be handy for Pakistan in limited overs cricket in the future.

Malik was out of the national team for almost a year as he was unable to get his name cleared from the match-fixing controversy. However, he got cleared by the integrity committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board recently and was included in the team.

The all-rounder has been an influential cricketer for Pakistan over the years, especially in limited overs cricket. He has played a number of match-winning knocks for Pakistan, and at times, he has been very useful with his off-spin.

Mohammad Hafeez is another batsman in the national team, who can turn his arm over in an effective manner. Malik feels that if both of them play together, they will prove to be great assets for the Green Shirts and the Pakistan team would be able to play an extra batsman.

“The fact is, if Hafeez and I play together as all-rounders we can even play with one less regular bowler and provide that option to the selectors. I have worked hard on this and am hoping that both my batting and bowling will be good,” said Malik.

The former Pakistan captain recently led his domestic team, Sialkot Stallions, to the sixth title victory in the Faysal Bank T20 Tournament 2011, at the National Stadium Karachi. Malik looked in brilliant touch throughout the tournament and turned out to be the difference between the Stallions and the other teams.

Malik claimed that he has dismissed almost all the top players of the world and said that when he goes out to bat, he considers himself a regular batsman, and when he has the ball in his hand, the all-rounder thinks like a bowler.

He added, “As you know, there aren’t too many players in international cricket that I haven’t dismissed. I have almost 150 wickets in the limited over formats. So I am hoping that when I bat, I bat like a regular batsman and when I bowl, I bowl like a regular bowler.”

Mohsin Khan named interim coach

Chief selector Mohsin Khan has been named the interim coach of the Pakistan cricket team during the tour of Sri Lanka, Geo News reported. Colonel Naushad Ali will be the team's manager.

The series will begin on October 18 and will feature three Tests, five ODIs and one T20 match. Pakistan has been forced to play their home series on foreign soil following a 2008 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.

Razzaq leads Pakistan in Hong Kong Super Sixes cricket

All-rounder Abdul Razzaq will lead Pakistan at this month's Super Sixes in Hong Kong as he attempts to resurrect his career at international level.

The 31-year-old, dropped from the national side since the World Cup in April, will lead a second-string Pakistan team for the Hong Kong event, which will be held from October 28 to 30.

Umar Akmal and Sohail Tanveer -- two more discarded players from the Test squad which faces Sri Lanka later this month -- were also among the seven-member squad.

Ramiz Raja, Hammad Azam, Yasir Shah and Sharjeel Khan are the others.

Pakistan, who finished runners-up to Australia in the Super Sixes last year, are placed in Group C with South Africa, India and Hong Kong.

Australia, England, Bangladesh and Ireland comprise Group B while an All Star team, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Scotland form Group A.

The Hong Kong Sixes was first held in 1992 and is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. Pakistan won the inaugural event, then again in 1997, 2001 and 2002.

shoaib malik with his wife sania mirza receiving Fb T20 trophy .