Wednesday, October 24, 2001 Justice Bhandari's inquiry has hit Pakistan's players just before the Sharjah tournament with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. I am sure it will create pressure for the boys, but they are used to it and I hope that they can cope. Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the clear favourites, and it is difficult to pick between them. It really will be down to the best team on the day.

I fear that Zimbabwe will be too demoralised after their home disaster against England to win the trophy, but they can be competitive. Sharjah is a batting paradise, and even if only two or three batsmen are on song there is the prospect of a big total. A daunting target works its own magic, and Zimbabwe's fielding will give them a chance, assuming it is back to normal after the England series.

There might well be a surprise or two, just as there was in Sharjah in 1999. I stood down as Pakistan coach after that tournament, and I have been criticised for my behaviour. I want to put the record straight.

Some people were surprised that I didn't say more to Justice Bhandari last week. They are wrong on two counts. First, I was asked about Pakistan's defeats by Bangladesh and India in the 1999 World Cup. How could I explain those defeats when I was no longer involved with the team? I could not be expected to know if those games were fixed, which is what I told the commission.

Clearly that was not enough for people who wanted me to be at the centre of another controversy. In the 1999 Sharjah tournament that I mentioned, the media reported that I had a blazing row with the players after I was supposed to have accused them of match-fixing. That is a misrepresentation of the facts.

Match-fixing allegations were all over the media at the time. During one of the round-robin games against England (after Pakistan had already qualified for the final) I heard rumours that the match was fixed. I didn't hear any specific details about what any particular player would do but there was loose talk circulating about the outcome of the game.

I have always played with dignity and honesty for my country and I was shocked to hear these rumours. It was the first time it had happened during my spell as coach. I wanted to clear the air.

I first asked Shahid Afridi if he knew of anything. He said no. I then talked to all the other players about the rumours. I didn't make any accusations and there was no shouting match. I was honest, I told the players about the concerns in my mind. The boys denied that the match was fixed and said that if I discovered that some players were involved I should throw them out of the team. Moin Khan certainly did not raise his bat at me, which is what the Pakistani media reported. He has denied doing that as well, so it amazes me why some sections of the media persist with such stories.

That was the end of the matter in terms of the players, but it was my duty to report the incident to the Pakistan Cricket Board, which is what I did. Although we did lose that particular game, we went on to win the tournament.

The Pakistani media then created a controversy over gifts that the players had been given during the Sharjah tournament and how I had been upset at not being given my share. That was untrue as well. And because I was sick of the media's distortion of the facts, and especially of how I was being portrayed, I thought it best to step down. I had no other reason to leave a winning team just before the World Cup.

The same thing happened after this year's tour of New Zealand. The media made me the scapegoat for the tour and made false accusations about my role in some players leaving the tour and others joining it. They also printed some untrue stories about rifts between the players and me. I decided that I didn't want to continue in that atmosphere and stepped down for a second time.

In any high-profile position in Pakistan you expect to suffer to some degree at the hands of our unregulated media, but there is a limit to how much you can tolerate. That controversy certainly ruined our Sharjah triumph in 1999. Let's hope this year's tournament is more memorable for what happens on the pitch than off it.

Javed Miandad, Pakistan's highest-scoring batsman and latterly their coach, was talking to Kamran Abbasi. His column appears at Wisden.com every Wednesday.

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