Dubai. Shoaib Malek, who won the man of the match in Pakistan’s 83-runs victory over Sri Lanka in the first One-day match of the five-match series at the Dubai International stadium on Friday, attributed his team’s rise as a power in One-day cricket to their wicket-taking bowlers.
Answering to a query from Gulf News as to whether it is their accurate pacers that is giving them consistent victories, Malek said: “I think it’s very important to have good bowlers especially when you have to put five fielders inside the circle. If you have good bowlers you can contain any team and good batsmen. The key in this format is to take wickets and that is what we are doing and that’s why we have earned lot of success especially during the Champions Trophy. In the Champions Trophy we had bowlers that kept taking wickets in the middle overs which helped us contain and beat world class teams. This is why we are wining most of the games.”
Malek carried his experience of having played 253 ODI matches to play a crucial role in Pakistan’s victory through his knock of 81 to be adjudged man of the match despite 22-year-old Babar Azam scoring 103 runs. It was Malek’s support at a crucial juncture of the game that helped Pakistan post an impressive total of 292 for six.
Speaking about his partnership with Azam, Malek said: “My goal is always to bat according to the situation and the team’s requirement. Condition were not easy when I walked in and Sri Lanka bowlers were bowling really well. It was a crucial partnership that Azam had with me. Before that Mohammad Hafeez’s short innings was a very positive innings and they set the tone for the win.”
Malek then went on to praise Azam as the upcoming star of Pakistan cricket. “Azam has been working hard and he is our great hope. I would want him to score runs in Tests too. He is improving each day and has an exceptional talent. I think the cricket board, selection committee and the team management should give him all the support so that Pakistan can have a great cricketer in him.”
Malek believes that giving enough chances to good players will yield positive results. “We are struggling in Test cricket because we lost Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan but I think this is the best bench that played the Test series. I think if we give them proper chances it will yield results. If you are selecting the right product and if you sustain then you are bound to get consistent positive results.”
Incidentally former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who watched the first One dayer, while talking to the media had praised young players like Azam, Hasan Ali and Rumman Raees but did not mention about Malek.
During the post-match press conference when Malek was asked about how he felt being ignored by Musharraf, Malek said: “I believe youngsters should always be praised more because the seniors don’t need that. Seniors have already gone beyond that stage now. It doesn’t matter to them whether someone is praising them or not. That doesn’t bother them. So I think Musharraf did a very good thing by praising the youngsters in our team.”
