http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shoaib-Malik-c90088: Under Immense Pressure – Part One
Former http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 last year when the Green Shirts lost three of their premier players as a consequence of the spot-fixing
controversy.
There were some question-marks about Malik and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamran-Akmal-c70122 but the two of them got cleared afterwards by the integrity committee of PCB.
After spending a year in wilderness, Malik was cleared just before the tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 and was straightaway brought back in the national team and there were some talks that he may replace Misbah ul Haq as captain in the limited overs format of the game,
once he re-establishes himself in the national team.
Malik has been a match-winner for Pakistan over the years in limited overs cricket and different captains have shown immense confidence on the all-rounder because of his ability to perform in all the three departments of the game.
However, Malik’s return to international cricket has been extremely disappointing so far as he has failed to play a single promising knock in the limited overs matches against Zimbabwe or http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758.
As a result of that, there are some huge question marks over his place in the national team and he may just lose it in case of a poor showing in the series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
Before leaving for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033 to take on the Lankan Tigers, Malik vowed to cement his place in the national team by performing in all the three formats of the game but he believes that he must perform in Test cricket if he wants to be recognized
as a high-quality batsman. However, on his return to international cricket, Malik is yet to play a Test match as he had to sit on the bench throughout the series against Sri Lanka.
He said, "I am targeting Test cricket. Once you hit [form] in the format you certainly [improve] your chances to be successful in other formats as well. Test cricket is the real form of cricket and I am more concerned about it."
On his return from the tour of Zimbabwe, Malik said that he was out of form during the tour of Zimbabwe but some brilliant performances in the Faysal Bank T20 Tournament 2011-12 made his believe that he has hit back the old form.
The all-rounder claimed, "I don't know what selectors have decided for me but I am optimistic. I was actually feeling rusty during the Zimbabwe tour but after playing the domestic Twenty20 I feel I've regained my touch."
However, it is quite evident that Malik is not out of form because he has not been able to spend any time at the crease. He just comes to crease and gets out very soon. It goes to show that the all-rounder is extremely low on confidence at the moment and
he is under immense pressure to retain his place in the national team.
Pakistan team seems to be peaking at the moment because of some extra-ordinary players and the positive aspect is the fact that the bench strength is extremely brilliant. The likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Junaid-Khan-c77037 and some others
have had to sit out during in some matches.
There is a huge amount of competition in the middle-order in the Pakistan team at the moment and Malik will have to come good sooner rather than later, otherwise there are many budding youngsters waiting in the wings.
To be continued …
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