Pakistan and England hope to move on from the 2010 spot-fixing case as they enter the first of three Tests starting in Dubai stadium from Tuesday - their first encounter since the scandal. Salman Butt, then Pakistan's Test captain, and pacemen Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were handed lengthy bans by the International Cricket Council last year before an English court gave them prison sentences.
The trio and their agent Mazhar Majeed were charged for conspiring to bowl deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test in 2010. But to their credit, Pakistan have not lost a Test series since then as Misbah-ul Haq has led them admirably - both on and off the field.
Despite that the prelude to this series - shifted to the United Arab Emirates because of security concerns in Pakistan - was marred by the talk of the scandal, much to the anger of Misbah.
"It's two years now and we have moved on from that diffficult period," said Misbah, not selected for that 2010 tour. "We want to focus on cricket. That is what we have been doing for an year and a half and that saga is past for us." Since the Lord's Test, Pakistan drew 0-0 against South Africa, beat New Zealand 1-0, drew 1-1 against the West Indies, beat Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka 1-0 and Bangladesh 2-0.
Misbah credits his players for the unbeaten run.
"The credit goes to the team and to players - after that difficult time everybody stuck to the task, gathered their thoughts and everybody wanted to prove to the world that we are good players and a good team," said Misbah.
"The key is performance of the team is showing that everything is going on well and we are determined to give our best against a tough opponent who are ranked number one in Tests."
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