Cricinfo - Blogs - Pak Spin - Malik masters his destiny

Today's Man-of-the-Match award is a relief for Malik and helps him begin to establish his authority. Only rare captains, take Mike Brearley for example, are able to lead an international side without any semblance of form. Since Malik cannot hope to demand the intellectual authority of a Brearley, or even an Imran Khan, his form will be the route to his success as a captain.

That is lesson number one for Malik. Lesson number two is that Pakistan cricket is an aggressive beast, a captain must ride it with attitude to achieve success and satisfy the faithful. Pakistan played with something of a swagger today and it helped bring out the best in its young talents.

These have been tough and slow lessons to learn but let's hope they have sunk in. Furthermore, this series defeat has produced some positive outcomes. Sohail Tanvir has confirmed his status as Pakistan's most exciting young fast bowler and possible allrounder. Salman Butt may have solved one half of Pakistan's opening conundrum, at least in conditions where the ball doesn't move too much or for too long. Sarfraz Ahmed has shown that there is life behind the stumps without Kamran Akmal--and about time too. And Fawad Alam's frenetic energy hinted at why he has become a domestic hero and should find a regular place in Pakistan's one-day team.

Yet one win doesn't eliminate the weaknesses in this Pakistan team. They will have to play with this level of belief, commitment, and aggression to stand a chance against India in the Test series. Malik's best chance lies in the fact that though India might be the stronger team they are flawed too. Whatever happens, Shoaib Malik must realise that the only way to lead Pakistan is from the front and in the face of the opposition.

I believe we have all grown up watching our cricket team, as if they are our own brothers, having shed tears of happiness and sorrow with them alike, having felt their pain, their humiliation, the elation, all ups and downs - I think this young team has won my heart. We all may criticize as much as we want but i still think these youngsters have given us more exciting, nail bitting, sensational cricket than any of the teams before. 20-20, they held Pakistan's flag high, chasing 320+ they held their nerves, and today, led by their timid but talented captain, they outclassed India. I saw hope, real hope, when I saw Malik calling everyone for a huddle, when yuvraj and dhoni were sinking in their heels, for a discussion - before he brought on gul and co. A scene, hardly ever witnessed before. Its going good, and I am happy with our cricket team. In these troubled times back home, these youngsters are the best soldiers Pakistan has ever had. One place, where we grind it out with the worlds best, eye to eye. What a lovely feeling!

Spot on Mr Abbasi, I can't disagree with anything you have said there. Malik is a terrific batsman and today he lead from the front and showed he is capable of handling pressure and pacing his innings. Today we saw a different Pakistani side, a team that displayed purpose that was somehow absent in the presence of Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Akhtar.

My gut feeling is that Malik is more confident captaining without senior players like the 4 mentioned above. Today Malik seemed assertive, involved and looked like he had a gameplan. He was making things happen, like his involvement in engineering Tendulkar’s dismissal. I think today’s game showed us that what Pakistan has been lacking for a few years now is youth that wants to prove something. I spoke recently about the complacency of senior players and how they don’t want to go the extra mile to perform for their country. That is exactly what these youngsters did. Even Sohail Tanvir, Butt and Rao looked more at ease on the field without the presence of Younis, Afridi and Akmal. Before this game I thought of writing that Malik has proven to be a bad choice and the mantle of captaincy should shift to Younis, but now I am left wondering whether a raw and young Pakistani team under the captaincy of their young captain is the way ahead? The most important thing at the end of the day is winning and if the youngsters can give energetic and consistent performances, why depend on the international cricket-hardened seniors?

I also mentioned a few days ago that if Malik does not try Fawad Alam soon enough, people will start asking questions and that is exactly that happened, as former greats like Miandad and Wasim Akram questioned Malik’s reluctance. Although Fawad did not pick up wickets (strangely the Indian batsmen treated him with respect and did not take many chances on his bowling as they did with Malik) he was reasonably economical keeping in mind it was a dew-infested, pro batting track. His 32 of only 23 balls was one of the highlights of the match and he seemed to overshadow Misbah in their brief partnership. He usually bats higher up the order for Karachi and his natural playing style is not slogging, but he did very well considering the circumstances. If he is used higher up the batting order Pakistan can really benefit from his talent.
Sarfraz was a welcome surprise but I guess anyone can keep better than Akmal at the moment!

I was a tad disappointed with Yasir Hameed. I have always supported Yasir ahead of Butt, Nazir and Farhat, but Yasir has been given chances recently and he has spoiled them. His dismissal today was a dismal sight- the bat was miles away from his body, there was minimal footwork and his position was erroneous. He looked so underconfident and miserable that I was almost hoping for Farhat to make a comeback. If Yasir lacks batting practice what is he doing in the playing XI?

Finally, I hope Malik has realised a thing or two about aggression and leading from the front. You are right Mr Abbasi (and for that reason let me hereby confirm that I am agree with you) that even though India is strong on paper, it is inconsistent and has the potential to collapse. But if Malik is to help facilitate that, his team must believe in themselves, develop a robust attitude and fight till the last moment.
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Khansahab
Owner of cricket blog “Pakcric” (www.pakcric786.blogspot.com)

Kamran why you didnt allow my last thread comments ? anything wrong with those comments ?

Any ways , i still says shoib malik doesnt have callibre to lead a side. you talk about mike bearly ' that guy has good instint and leadeship qualities in him thats why without any good perforance he leads the england side but even if he is playing nowadays he doesn;t allow to lead. Dont talk about imran khan the man since he become captain showed everything to make a team good fighter. Malik is not even 1 % of imran khan even javed miandad, wasim akram, even he is worse than inzamam ul haq. Yes he can play as a player in one day and 20 20 not in test as he good player for those formats of play. Sarfraz ahmed, Sohail Tanvir, Fawad Alam , I m missing Shahid yousuf here again he is definitely deserved his place in team now. Play Fawad Alam instead of Rehman . Play Shahid yousuf or Asim kamal instead of misbah. Kamran akmal should now give a long rest to have self-believe in himself.

MALIK DONT DESERVE TO BE A CAPTAIN OF TEAM, I AM AGREE WITH ALL OLD CRICKETERS THAT MUHAMMAD YOUSUF OR YOUNIS KHAN SHOULD BE CAPTAIN OF TEAM IF THEY DENY THAN SHAHID AFRIDI.

KAMRAN TELL ME IN HERE WHY YOU DELETED MY COMMENTS . I DONT THINK I SAID ANYTHING WRONG IN THOSE .

ALLAH HAFIZ
ALLAH HAFIZ

Its time that PCB does something before Pakistan loose a series even against Bangladesh,so I think these few things would help the Pakistan Cricket if not atleast show the curiosity of fans like me;

As far as Im concerned Malik's captaincy isnt a a problem to worry about,for a captai to be innovative and proactive there should be support from his team mates,which is lacking in the pakistanis,when given a job to a player he is not delivering itmduring crunch situations seniors arent prepared to go over to the captain and have a few words.The last ODI is a good example to show how good a captain malik is when given a good support by the players like Dhoni gets from his players.
Also I dont know how successfull Jeff Lawson can be.
Finally Pakistan should stop playing players becouse of thier names and play them according to the situation and environment,for example its sad to see with such good reputation still Afridi havent matured,like a shcool boy he looks for a six every single ball,instead of him if Fawad Alam was givena chance,Fawad would have hepled Pakistan alot.Somone like Misbah,if he was introdused alot ealier when he was younger and persisted with,today he would have won more matches for pakistan than a Younis Khan would have done.
Players like Asim Kamal should be given more chances,specially in the ODIs.
Im writing this from Sri Lanka,I have written so many comments in Pakspin,none of them

Come on Mr. Kamran Abbassi, just one win, et tu showering praises and accolades on Malik's batting performance, captaincy and leadership qualities? I think Malik doesn't need to be recompensed by you with such honours for a single performance. Prior to this match, in the 4 ODI innings his average was a paltry 17.4 and he took zero wickets. Today, he had no option but, to bowl his full ten overs quota as there was no other bowler and I was wondering how he will fare? But, today the colourful lady luck of Jaipur was smiling at him. And some commentators especially Bruce Yardley was drooling all over... thats a real shame.

In my opinion Fawad Alam bowled better than Malik, but he is unlucky not to get a wicket, whereas, everything went Malik's way. Losing the toss and batting first didn't harm him. Once again slowing the run rate between 25 - 35 overs and again throwing away his wicket by playing a shot by running down the pitch, swinging the bat like a fly-swat, that was a very ugly sight to see both the well settled players got out in similar fashion within a span of 10 balls. Once again they left the polishing and cleaning job for Misbah ul Haq. How can they expect him to play a match winning innings every time? Although, Misbah has not yet won a match, but he came very close to winning. Had Malik and Yousuf played sensibly they both would have scored centuries and the total would have been in the range of 330 - 340.

Although 306 runs was the highest total posted by any team at Jaipur, but India had won their previous match on the same ground by scoring 302 in 46.1 overs. Therefore, the score wasn't good enough to protect especially with limited bowling options, dew factor and the X factor of Yuvraj and Dhoni, but lucky for Malik everything went his way, Yuvraj's decision was definitely dubious and Dhoni got injured and this time their partnership failed. So, everything went Malik's way.

All three fast bowlers bowled well, especially Tanvir got 4 for 53. Alam in my opinion bowled better than Malik but, without any luck. Malik's all three wickets could have easily ended up in sixes and his three for ten in sixty three would have been close to eighty for none. He can now brag about his MoM award or on regaining his so-called short form. Which is not really a guarantee or an authority stamp to say that he will be scoring big from now onwards! Form is temporary but, class is permanent. And he has to demonstrate that class in leadership terms. Of course, there is no better way than leading from the front and by letting the willow speak. We all know he is a pathetic speaker so he should let the willow talk.

I would say that Fawad Alam not only bowled better, he even batted better than Malik. Remember he came in to bat in the 45th over and for the last 4 matches he was sitting on the bench. One can imagine what a horrendous feeling it must be for a 22 year old playing his second ODI, after a disastrous duck on his debut. But, today when he came, he demonstrated youth combined with exuberance and plenty of energy.

His first four against Pathan, when he charged at him wasn't all that graceful but, his flat straight six against the accurate bowling of Praveen Kumar was superb and all his other shots were full of confidence. And mind you, playing in the death overs is not easy especially for a player who is being sent back home only to wait for a next call, that may or many not come and he might end up being another Asim Kamal? Malik on the other hand had nothing to loose, his captaincy tenure has been confirmed by the PCB Godfather, for him it was not the same pressure as Fawad Alam, Yasir Hameed or Imran Nazir.

Tanvir removed the top order i.e., Gambhir & co. But, Tendulkar's prized wicket followed by Sehwag's wicket halted the Indian progress and he deserves the praise for his superb bowling efforts. Shoaib Akhtar was looking better in the dressing room balcony, at least he wasn't sweating and toiling like a workhorse! I am sure his mind must have been elsewhere, because he has recently announced his interest in acting in movies also, in getting married. "Tera dil tou hai sanam aashnaa, tujhay kya milay ga maidaan may?" There is a news that, a majority of the Pakistani players are busy signing contracts with Indian firms and TV corporations. While the PCB officials are having a ball in India at company's expense. No wonder there is less focus on cricket and more elsewhere!

Finally, something for Rameez Raja: Rameez you must have heard about self-respect, self-esteem, dignity, vanity, pride, ego etc., etc., and being a Pakistani Canadian I was a tad embarrassed at your plea for movie tickets when you interviewed that Indian actor and asked him, rather begged him for the tickets for a movie! Come on Rameez, how can you do that? If you don't have the money to buy movie tickets for your family and for yourself, borrow it from a fellow Pakistani, even I could have given you that much money to buy a movie ticket. How come you can stoop so low and ask him for movie tickets in public, on TV where hundreds of millions of people are watching you? You could have even asked him privately but, I would never ever do that. Sheesh, it was such a disgrace to see that. But, I am not sure if you have ever thought the same way as I am seeing it?

A big question mark?
How we won in the absence of not one or two but four star cricketers, namely Afridi, Akhter, Akmal & Khan.
And lost comprehensively in their presence.
Any thoughts........

I feel that Shoaib Malik deserves our strong support and not a critical evaluation . Words like clueless and catatonic do not appropriately describe a genuine person who is trying his best under the present situation.
I was definitely impressed by the performance and tremendous confidence demonstrated by young Sarfraz and feel that he will be the deserving keeper in near future.

But unfortunately good future talent like Fawad Alam is being sent home, and safarshi Faisal Iqbal is being flown in. There is not justification for sending Fawad Alam back, and not giving him chance in test match.

Talking of Shoaib Malik mastering his destiny. Had he batted well and scored more runs at Gwalior and made it 2-2, I would have said yeah, he tried to control his destiny. I am quoting from cricinfo what the simpleton had said after the Gwalior ODI defeat. Malik said, "I had asked for scorecards of the last three matches played here. The teams batting first had won so I decided to bat first." He confirms that he had done his homework before the fourth ODI against India at Gwalior and after winning the toss he opted to bat first. He is such a duh that a night before the Gwalior match, when both teams were practicing at night time, everyone could see the amount of dew on the ground and everyone said, the team winning the toss must field first, because the dew factor makes bowling and fielding very difficult and it is for this reason he did not bowl in that match at all, and he asked Salman Butt to bowl the last couple of overs. Which is a bad example from a leader.

Today, he lost the toss and was forced to bat. But, the team won due to the following reasons:

1. Malik's pressure was off, the team lost the series after 24 years and whatever happened, happened and people have said, what they had to say. So, he played with an open mind and played better, but in the end threw away his wicket needlessly. He bowled like a mediocre, but he is lucky that he got wickets. More than destiny the luck was on his side. The destiny of the ODI series was sealed and stamped in Gwalior.

2. According to the law of averages, Malik was ought to score after 4 consecutive failures, and Tendulkar was destined to get out early. He still gave some jitters to Malik before Tanvir got him and Misbah took a good catch. Misbah's encore after dropping a sitter of Uthappa must have made him a very relieved person. Hence he did not fail when the little master-batter offered him an edge.

3. According to the past stats India has never won a series against Pakistan with big margins like Pakistan has won in the past with 5-1, and 6-1 in Nehru Cup & 4-2 in the last series they came from behind and bounced back and won four on a trot. Therefore, it was expected that when Pakistani players will play with a free mind they will win.

4. According to the law of averages Yuvraj & Dhoni's middle order partnership was not going to come along nicely as it happened in the past few matches. And Yuvraj was unlucky today to be given out, bad umpiring. Where are the neutral umpires anyways?

The dew factor cannot be ignored, it does help the side batting second, Irfan Pathan and Kartik managed to pull off some good shots in the death overs. So, the secret is not in containing the side batting second with tight bowling, but the secret is in putting up a BIG score by the team batting first. Although 306 proved to be enough in the end but, it would have been better had the team scored 330 plus. Because, India has a better record of winning when batting second. The mistakes that Malik made in the 3 matches he lost, he should sit down, watch the videos, discuss with his coach and team mates and learn from those mistakes.

As regards test series, Malik says that Kumble's captaincy would be an advantage for Pakistan. I don't see how Malik can find it as an advantage for Pakistan? Because India has a more balanced test side with Dravid, Laxman and Jaffar in the team along with Tendulkar and Dhoni. The pitches for the test have reportedly been made to suit the spinners. And Pakistan has only one specialist spinner in Danish Kaneria, whereas, India has more experienced spinners in Kumble and Harbhajan.

Pakistan is heavily relying on Yousuf and Younus and that is a big mistake. The opening conundrum will continue and openers will fail, the solid middle order of YY is without Inzamam now, so it is not so solid anymore. And they do not have any exploding batsmen in the team like Afridi, Razzaq or Nazir, for late order assault. It may sound weird to some but, even in the test matches you need big hitters in the team to accelerate the run rate in the second innings. The one and only Bangalore test Pakistan won last time and drew the series was because of timely declaration and then getting the Indian batsmen out in the second innings with enough time on hands and plenty of runs on board. The match could have ended in a draw but, timely declaration helped the captain to place attacking field when their spinners were bowling and thats the reason Pakistan won that match.

I don't think that Pakistan has any advantage over India in the test series, in fact it is the other way round. I have no hopes from Shoaib Akhtar who is unfit and out of shape and may not be able to bowl even 12 overs in any innings. With Sami coming in, will they be playing with 4 seamers and Danish Kaneria? In any case it will be Kaneria's marathon once again. But, neither Kaneria, nor Abdul Rahman are match winning bowlers. In fact, Abdul Rahman is absolutely redundant in the team and should have been sent home. As regards the new wicket keeper Sarfaraz, I am not aware of his batting abilities but if he plays all I can say is: " Tislam Yadaik Ya Sarfaraz."

Well I wish against hope that the learnings sunk in from the last ODI and are translated into a fighting test series. However there are many areas that need a closer exmination;
Foremost is the issue of an authentic opening pair. Its about time to give Yasir Hameed his fair share.
Misbah should be given a greater responsibility as he has shown a cool head and should be a constant feature in the late middle order unless we have Razzaq come in to fill in the number 6-7 slot. He will fit in the scheme of things really well providing the side with an extra bowler and handy batsman. He has good stats against India as well.
shoiab malik is a utility cricketer and he has to concentrate more on his bowling in addition to shouldering the middle order batting with younis and yousaf.
Sohail tanvir, to me, is find of the year and a little more polishing can turn him into a very good cricketer.
The most welcome change is that of the wicket-keeper. I guess time is up for the butter-fingered Akmal and we should try one or two more options.
By the same token, its about time to say goodbye to shoaib. History tell us that human memory is too short, but this man has been a progressive dissapointment each year since his arrival on the scene.
looking forward to a competitive and learning series for Pakistan against a very formidable Indian side.

I agree with you 100% , Akmal needs to go, i think he had more than enough chances for this life time. Another point i like to make is agression is good if you have performance to back it up...i donno why Shahid Afridi has this attitude cuz i dont even remember when he made his last 50 and he has sucked big time in bowling even in this series. He is too inconsistent and its about time that we replace him with guys like fawad alam who can bowl and bat.

Right!! Mr. Kamran
All well said!
but i still believe Akhter shoud have played the last game as he lacks match practice at an international level and this match was an oppurtunity lost!
and i think kamran akmal should be given a chance in the first test ,no because i like him or he is the best wicket keeper but because he must feel the heat now particularly having seen sarfaraz's confidence and most of the times compitition brings best out of the people and we might see kamran back with some improvement!
and Malik need to be innovative, think out of the box, like if a bowler doesnt perform,do something new, like change ends or ask him to do something different!
I FEEL AFRIDI SHOULD BE IN THE TEAM AS HE HAS ALWAYS PERFORMED IN TESTS AND ALSO HE IS A VERY GOOD SPINNING OPTION AND ALSO IF HE CANT MATCH THE LIKES OF KUMBLE BUT HE CAN STILL BE EFFECTIVE!

GOOD LUCK PAKISTAN!

As I said Pakistan won the game. But Malik took too many chances with going three front line bowlers. Shoaib Akthar opting out also did not help. Yasir Hameed should not be in the team. But opportunity was given and not taken.

Pakistan will do well in test. We will keep the faith on them. I think Shoaib Malik should open and Safraz to keep.

Lets pray for Pakistan. Shoaib Malik have the confidence to do well. Only Mr. Lawson support is needed.

Hanas

Well, I agree with most of what you say. I don't personally think, though, that India is a stronger team on paper. I don't think their medium pacers should prove to be genuine wicket takers, and their sole reliance will be on Kumble. However, batting is their strength and Malik's captaincy will be tested on the field. However, Pakistan doesn't have a bad bowling attack either: Akhter seems to be getting form again, Sami has come back in form locally (though he will remain unreliable as ever), Kaneria should find form with a new keeper now, and Tanvir gives variety as a left-armer.
Apart from that, though Pakistan's batting doesn't seem dominating, we still have the two y's and a butt in form.
All in all both the teams look even on paper. However, it will also depend a lot on the form of cricket they play, whether they are timid as against SA or aggressive and proactive.

its not only the captain but the selector,what can only captain do if u dont have your best 11 in your side and one thing if you are not supported by your other 10 guns,Ricky and Gream always suppored by their guns so they seem in best form.

Now that Shoaib Malik has earned the dubious distinction of losing a bona fide test at National Stadium Karachi (the only other loss at that venue being in the dark of the night aided with some suspect umpiring), and losing an ODI series in India after 24 years, we should be able to extrapolate which direction his captaincy is going. And to top it all, he's taking it all quite nicely... "we're professionals, we have to live with that". No remorse, non-apologetic, what-me-care? With the real test of leadership, the test series, ahead of him, I have to say that getting runs alone is not going to cut it for him. His own form will have to be accompanied with a lot more if he truly wants to establish his leadership credentials.

For one, Malik has to come up with some sort of a philosophy to knit the team together. Even someone as placid and docile as Inzamam was able to conjure up religion to pull the team together. But it's an alarming signal when the team starts to lose its purpose against India of all the sides in the world. It's real trouble when the Indians start to complain that this Pakistan side is too friendly. They have to struggle to fake their frowns and nasty attitudes. This Pakistan team is creating the tradition of visiting Bollywood actors in jail with flower bouquets. By the way, is it just me or is it true that Shoaib Akhtar looks more and more gay with each passing day? Is he trying to make a statement in reality or someone just hasn't been able to tell him how to dress up?

I have my reservations about Asif's injury as well. I think that Asif has pulled back because Shoaib Akhtar was included in the team. If that is really the case then it would be another failure on Shoaib Malik's part. Malik hasn't really made his position clear about Shahid Afridi's reluctance to parttake in the test series also. It seems kind of strange to me Afridi returning home with the test series still to be played. Most of all, Malik hasn't taken a stance on Imran Khan's arrest. At the least, the team should've played with black arm bands to protest the insulting arrest of one of their own and a great national hero. Will he be a stooge or will he show us that he has the grit? The former, I'm sorry to say.

Well said Kamran. One thing that is noticeable is that there was a much needed energy in the Pakistan squad on the field. Malik seemed a lot more authoritative in a good way. Could this be because he didn't have the overbearing presence of the senior players like Akhter, Afridi and Younus?

I think Shoaib Malik has all the talent and capable to lead the Pakistan cricket team. As we all know India Pakistan series are always tough ones and there are more pressure here than anywher else. 3-2 lose is although loss of a series but it is acceptable and we must not become harsh at the new young captain. I think we must give some time to Shoaib Malik because he is still very young and he is captaining a rebuilding side with a new coach. I believe that he will definitly prove himself as a captain during his tenure of One year.
Now comming to Salman Butt, Sohail Tanveer, Sarfaraz and Fawad Alam yes they are great finds for Pakistan and they must perform at higher level because they are well capable of it.
Talking about the Test series, India has a little edge with their recent form but who knows Pakistan is always unpredictable and they can defeat even World XI on their day. Good luck Pakistan with hope that you will fight hard till the end.

Finally an aggression comes from the Pakistan end and that shows the talent we have. The good thing was they gave a chance to Sarfraz and he proved his skills well, now Management should take the brave decision and go in test series with Sarfraz rather than Akmal that will be a strong and confident move which will show that our team is confident enough to play with fresh legs behind and in front of stumps.

Younis and Yousaf is in prime form and both has a very good batting record against India specially Younis, now the Malik has also joined the gang and if openers provides us a good start there is no reason that we lack in test series. Good thing is Sami is in good form and has been recalled for test series this will boost up our balling strength as well. But to fight or give Indian batting line up a hard time a good batting required from both Y’s along with a good support from Malik and Butt as well. Misbah will be a surprise package, let’s hope this surprise will have a positive impact on our batting. On papers our team seems to be a strong one and no doubt if they played to their skills there is no reason that they will not reach to the victory stand as a winner.

Sohail Tanveer is a nice find and Lawson should work on his batting side as well to polish him as a good all-rounder. He showz some class in the final of Twenty-20. The only thing is he must be given enough chances to prove him self at International Level as well as he has scored two hundredz in the first class, which again indicates his class as a good batsman. His batting average in First class is 35.44 with two tons followed by 5 half tons with the career best 124* not out. In his 7 innings at International level he only faced 44 balls and scored 53 runs with a strike rate of 120.45.

If he continues the same form no doubt he will be one of the best all-rounder of Pakistan cricket.

Usman Riaz Qazi

well ur right about that ..a real factful column with really nice bit of tips but malik also needs to bring back the SPARK that once rode the pakistan innings and still the slogan for pakistan that "Pakistan can beat any team given that they are in the mood to do it" . Inshallah im quite hopeful that Malik will ripe with time.so guys plz dont criticize him more than he can bear..just give him sometime to prove himself.

I think Pakistan would do well without the old horses - Shahid Afridi & Shoaib Akhter-.
Whenever these two players are not there the team performance improves mysteriously.
PCB should groom new players like Fawad Alam & Sarfaraz Ahmed.

Malik will grow up surely.....Will be a succesful Cap. Inshallah !

I hope due to a defect in this series, there are no talks about sacking Shoaib Malik. I wish there was a way we can teach him aggresion like Wasim and Imran. If you have any say in Pak Cricket, can you ask why cant we have wasim akram as our bowling caoch?
also I didnt see any Article from you on Shoaib Akhtar's good performance, surely when he creates a mess people tend to jump all over him. A little praise would be nice

I think we should now try to stick with some kind of combination for say ten games in a row specially the batting order and forget about flexibility. we don't even know what is our regular ODI squad so how do we justify chop and change. let a regular side develop for some time before any change. we need to fix openers say Butt and Malik himself or Afridi then stick to it for ten games and then review. 3, 4 , 5 ,6 are relatively fixed with younus yusuf malik/afridi and misbah 7 could be fawad 8 keeper sarfaraz(please not kamran)9,10,11 bowlers Umar, rao/asif ,and tanvir .tanvir gives a left handed okward variety so is usefull.Shoaib akhtar for tests.

Pakistan must avoid the 'old hogs' if they like to conquer the world. Look how Indian tean has become a demon. How come time and agian Shoaib Akhtar is brought in and never he plays a winning role specially against India - a far cry!!! Better give chance to young guys or their talent might die on the boundary lines

The Induction of youth and the exclusion of selfish, non co-operative and under performing players changed the outlook of the whole team. This was the second time in the series that Pakistan team played aggressively and the result was in their favor, the combination was perfect, Malik led from the front and his partnership with Yousuf was instrumental in posting a big total, this was the second time in the series that our middle order paced the innings desirably and we didn't saw an agonizingly slow and selfish partnership between Younis and Yousuf, almost all the matches lost in this series can be attributed to the slow batting by our middle order, for the first time in the series Pakistan played two specialist openers and we got the highest opening stand of the series, I fail to understand why Pakistan persisted with one make shift opener in the first four matches as we selected four regular openers for this ODI series.

The exclusion of Kamran Akmal was a good omen not only that he was a liability as an opener but his keeping was pathetic, his exclusion resulted in changes which restored the balance of the team. Hats off to the young Sarfraz Ahmed he played the match as if he had no pressure his keeping was flawless he displayed a lot of confidence and energy, and IMO he has cemented his place in the team, if there were any doubts in the minds of team management about his ability they must have been dispelled, he should be selected for the tests in place of Akmal.

Fawad Alam also got a chance to showcase his talent and I must say that he was not able to impress me much in his first appearance in Sharjah but today he was determined to impress everybody with his performance and cement his place in the team. He will be a good addition to the Odi team but I don’t think he is ready for test cricket as of yet.

Malik was aggressive today may be he didn't had to speculate and worry about the performance of Afridi, and Younis Khan the only two players who have not been co-operating with him and are not under his control. He looked more focused and in control, his field setting and bowling changes were good, he was also behaving like a leader, he was yelling at the fielders for slight fumbles, and was also constantly talking to the bowlers and he made sure that they bowl according to the plan, something which was surprisingly missing in the first four matches. If he has to become a successful leader he will have to grab the bull by its horns which means (no more bhais) he should not be lenient with any player just because he is senior, in this respect he should learn from Imran who was not even afraid to leave Miandad and Malik out of the playing eleven if he believed that they were not in form. Upholding of merit and discipline will be the key to his success.

Good win for pak from the winning from no any legend or so called senior player thats it, pls remove 3 or four so called senior from the team that will be the extra ordinary performance would definately shown and one more pls captain malik you should lead the from the of batting order otherwise panic will be always in your front as this series.

GOOD LUCK PAKISTAN!

well nice comments dearly and a wonderful article this time around/..........

Typical pakistani article. Criticizing the captain for the lack of skills in the team. Give shoaib malik a chance to do something without useless 2 cent comments about his batting and captaincy. What was the state of Pakistan cricket before?. What did Pakistan do in the world cup. Nothing. We lost to Ireland forgodsake. I bet under Shoaib Malik that wouldnt have happened. The series against South Africa was a good one even though we lost. It could have gone either way. For once stop criticizing the captain for everything wrong in the team. Every Hasbeen in Pakistan cricket is always talking about how poorly he is captaining. Times were different then and they are now. What Pakistan is lacking is a wicket keeper. That is one of the reasons why pakistan lost this series. A catch here and there can change everything. CATCHES WIN MATCHES. Kamran Akmal cannot even bat properly. Look at the top one day international teams. They all have keepers who could qualify to play as specialist batsman. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE. Adam Gilchrist , Mahendra Dhoni & Dinesh Kartik, and Mark Boucher are example of this new era of One Day Cricket. Kamran Akmal is from the same Rashid Latif average of 19.42 era but atleast Rashid Latif could keep. Its time for a change. Its time to stop criticizing someone clearly trying to make a difference.

All rounder means who can do little bit of bowling and also bit of batting. But he must have to possess a strong side, such as a good batsman then bowler (like Kallis) or good bowler then batsman (Imran Khan). Now consider the present pakistani all-rounder, Shahid Afridi. Shahid Afridi is good leg spinner with lots of variations and a good hard hitting batsman. But his consistency is awesome particularly in batting. He did well in 20-20 cricket, because it suits his level of playing. Still pakistan has given him the chance to play more than 200 matches. His batting has not improved at all though bowling has improved a bit. In the fifth match, Pakistan played Fawad Alam, a little kid but his batting was compact and according to team's need. I dont know why Pakistani selectors always give chance to show players like Afridi, Shoaib Akhter, Imran Nazir. Build a team with young performers, they will lose initially but in the future they will not hurt you.

Yes Kamran you are absolutly right that Mailik must have the influence as a player and he must perform by himself inlikes of Inzimam. But I think that Malik needs some time to built himself because he is young and also Pakistani team is in rehebilitation process so, but one thing I want to discuss is that what Geof Lawson is doing over there because during the series we need a player like Fawad Alam and why they did not given him a chance earlier. And also kamran Akmal is a huge weight on Pakistan team now he must be rested for a while and then must perform in the domestic and then prepere himself for international cricket. If we analize the last one and half year
pakistan major defeats came just because of drop catches exapt the world cup Kamran Akmal have droped the catches on crusial stages on many many times, and in the 90% cases Pakistan lost the match and lost the series just because of those drop catches. For example just look at the last series of South Africa and Pakistan in the last one day Kamran Akmal have droped kallis on Zero and that was simply a lolly pop, and because of that drop catch Kallis scored a 80 plus and because of that score we lost the match, coz if that catch was held by the kamran akmal then on that slow and also spinning track it was very difficult for South Africa to play, and they may not be able to score over 200. So in My openion if Pakistan want to win the series they have to play with new wicket keeper and also with shohaib umar gul and muhammad sami as well. and also they have to try Yasir hameed consistantly as an opener with Salman But. I think that it is now up to shohaib malik that what should he do now.

I wouldn't make too much of this last match seeing that both sides rested some of their regulars. A key notes:
1. Fawad Alam looked very composed and hopefully the selectors will give him a chance. You can't tell much from one performance but I think he at least deserves to be in the overall squad for the upcoming tests. Basically he is being sent back for Faisal Iqbal who really hasn't done much.
2. Shahid Afridi is a bowler. He has played close to 250 ODI's and to expect him to change his batting style now is defying reality. He is what he is and we should look at him as a bowler who can bat like Agarkar or Adrew Hall. Pakistan have been playing five bowlers for most of the series (Afridi, Akhthar, Gul, Tanvir, Anjum/Rehman) and it shows in their repeated batting failures. We need to go in with a more balanced attack.
3. Shoaib Malik should open the innings in both forms. It makes more sense than giving a chance to Nazir or Hameed who have proven they cannot provide consistency.
4. I really like Kamran Akmal and hopes he can regain his form. Right now he needs to go back and play domestic cricket and work on his technique and confidence. Give Sarfraz the nod in the upcoming tests. This might light a competitive fire under Akmal.

Abbasi saab, The only way we will discover these young dynamic players like Alam, Tanvir and Ahmad are through injury or very very very poor form. Tanvir brought in twenty/20 to replace Akthar, Alam used in pointless match to show what he can give and Ahmad used after 3 terrible series from akmal just to fly him in as a backup and then a pointless game to get him in. We have other guys who can make a great impact on the national team like mansoor Amjad, Khuram Mansoor, and Anwar Ali but sadly the only was we will see them is if players are injured or the series is meaningless. I like khan, afridi, Yousef but we needed to try these young lads and now we have australia coming up. I want to see these youngsters play and they should be introduced against australia. I don;t mean to give up already on the australian series but do we have to see players like Y. Khan, yousef, Afridi, and Abdur Rehman play and produce the same results. We need to rest these guys and give the youngsters a shot.

We should not jump to conclusion too quickly. I am glad that bench players got their opportunity but I dont see a future for Yasir Hameed. He just lacks temperament. It was a relief to see Sarfraz behind the stumps. It would be nice to have Sami back in the side in Asif's absence. Shoaib Malik has got to learn many things if he wants to improve the results.

I strongly agree to the fact that Pakistan cricket is an aggressive beast and you can succeed only if you ride it with aggression. Shoaib Malik appears to be a person whose goal is to keep every body happy, which is not an ideal approach in Pakistan cricket. Also, he does not like to put opposition under pressure by attacking or by doing things out of the box. He looks pretty content following his preplanned script and if any thing goes wrong, he gets confused and perplexed. Many believe that half of Imran Khan's success is due to the presence of Javed Miandad. Pakistan do not have the presence of a genius like Miandad in the field these days. Shoaib Malik is by no means a tactical genius. The only person that appears to any tactical sense is Younus Khan and I do not see Shoaib Malik consulting him in the field as well. So I guess the only approach left for Malik is to adapt the "in your face" approach. And for that matter he needs to come out firing all guns with his bat. So very rightly put my Mr. Kamran that Malik own form is him only weapon to lead this side.

And for God sake, we need get over Kamran Akmal. He is one of the most pathetic wicket keeper that ever got to play for Pakistan. I think, Pakistan cricket has never given more chances to any one than Kamran Akmal. The only other name comes to mind is Mohammad Sami.

Malik is very good captan of Pakistan
lose or win is part of life

Pakistan should grab hold of the opportunity provided by india with both hands and yesterdays match should rejuvenate them to play aggressively in the upcoming series. India should have not taken yesterday,s match lightly because you dont allow teams like Pakistan to rise again from the Ashes.

Nothing succeeds like success. Shoaib was successful(b4 he was captain) because he played with a plan and controlled aggression and with no worries. He should play his natural game. Controlled aggression. Form gives you confidence. Right now he looks too worried. Shoaib needs to be more positive and aggressive in the field. No need to play nice.

The win was a welcome relief for Pakistan and its fan. I wish they had played like this the whole series. The game showed one thing, youth's enthusiasm is a wonderful thing and we need some infusion of youth. It was wonderful to see Sarfaraz and Fawad playing with energy. I wish they would keep fawad for the test series.

Good luck to pakistan in the test series.

i think wat kamran said was right pakistan is an aggressive team and they play better when there agressive and especially when there captin is aggressive i thought shoib malik batted well but he has to do it mre often go pakistan

y isnt mohhamed yousaf vice captin? now hes muslim as well and y dosent fawad alam play cricket mre for pakistan we need some one to grow up with the team and put abdul razzq bck in the side and imran farhat go pakistan

s. malik will be the best captain in the world of cricket. provided p.c.b.should not dump him mid way . look at his body language a real fighter and a fine usefull all rounder. he has all the quality for a stuborn leader. i wish him all the best.

Swagger and aggression are fine as long as they are not lionized as you seem to be doing. Sohail Tanvir's repeated fist-pumping after bagging Tendulkar's wicket in the 5th ODI can be indulgently excused as the exuberance of youth but it provoked comments by several of the other Pakistani players to a retreating Tendulkar who of-course did not deign to look back. I am sure that the comments were not complimentary even if preceded by the usual invocation to the Lord.

The reason why pakistan went backwards after their 20 20 tournament was because of Shoiab Akhtar. They dont need him, its time for others to perform. I think Pakistan cricket team can be compared to Arsenal FC. When Thierry Henry left, the young players of Arsenal have really made their mark, similiarly I think there are young players ready to make their mark.... with Shoiab gone then only can they make their mark, players like Fawad Alam, Tanvir, Gul(who has potential to be worlds best) and others. As long as Shoaib is in the team they will always lose series and maybe win 1 match out of 15 due to his brilliant bowling, but is that enough?

I think Shoaib is young and energetic cricketer and captain, he should be given more time to prove and improve himself. Its not an easy task to captain Pakistan side with all the emotions associated with the game. well done Shoaib!

I think Pak should play with more young players than the tried and failed. some consider themselves to be indispensable and under perform hence produce the image of Pak as most brittle batting line up of the world. And no other team gives so many chances to a failed wicket keeper as Pakistan has provided to Kamran Akmal. New Keeper Sarfraz Ahmed is a breath of fresh air in the face of hopelessness. Bowllers do all the hard work to make some batsman commit a mistake and a little fumble ruins the hope of millions watching the game all around the world. Other teams make a catch of adifficult or improbable chance and our team makes a routine and easy chance into an elusive one hence spreading hpoelessness and despair. Pakistan should thionk about it serously.

Malik is a brilliant captain, a very good player indeed. However, I feel pakistan need to bring misbah-ul-haq up the order so that you have a very strong top order which will build a foundation for players like Shahid to come and slog it out in the last 15 overs or so.

but a job well done Shoaib!

Kamran,it is high time Shahid Afridi is dropped from the team permnantly.He plays one good innings every 10 innings or so. He is just in the team on the basis of his reputation. He is not good enough to play just as a spinner. Instead of Afridi, someone like Fawad Alam brings depth to the batting and also can bowl pretty good. No other player would be kept in the team if he performs in one out of 10 innings. He is our version of Sehwag & India did the right thing by dropping him. Sehwag has no footwork & Afridi has no brain & since he is 27 yrs old & in international cricket for over 11 yrs. he wont change. ITS TIME TO GET RID OF AFRIDI PERMENANTLY.

dude that is like so true man.Go for it dude!Write a book!Rycheouss!

Yes totally agreed. One thing i and all other noticed that during fielding Shoiab Malik set-up very good plans to Sachin who has been in graet form as usual. And the wya he was dismissed showed that if you work according to plans you can achieve success. Pakistan tema and Captain Shoib Malik have still lot of work to do .. and on their day at office tbey seem to have done rightly so atleast. Best of Luck.

One of the many things that contributed towards Pakistan’s success in the last ODI against India was the absence of the senior players. Malik looked more at home having to direct and motivate the younger and lesser experienced team mates. One could feel the energy on the field when Pakistan was fielding.

Even looking at Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a captain Malik will always be compared with, it is evident that he is more inclined to play with exuberant youth rather than the heavy load of super stars.

May be its time Pakistan also has two different captains for Tests and ODIs with complete autonomy to choose their diggers. Younis for Tests and Malik for ODIs. Just a thought!

The series lost can not be all blamed on Malik alone. There are a number of reasons for the lose, some below:-

1. Lack of a genuin pace bowling allrounder in the name of A.Razzak! Believe it or not but Pakistan lacked Razzaks finishing in all the ODI matches. He normally came in at the end and scored the odd 20-30 runs at a quick pace. Pakistan also has to play an extra fast bowler because there is no genuin pace bowling allrounder at the moment.

2. Opening combination has been useless. Imran Nazir and Butt should be given a run for a period of time in ODI. Butt and Yasir Hameed or even Taufeeq Umar should be given a run in the test matches if the selectors do not want to try out new younger players.

3. Abdur Rehman should not be wasted time with when we have Fawad Alam, who can bowl just as well if not better. He can also bat and field pretty well too. I watched the second ODI in Lahore between SA and Pak and I must say, Rehman had to be the worst fielder on field and that match included M. Yousuf!

All in all, could come back by Pakistan team, no matter what the media, fans or ex-players say about the test contest ahead. I think both teams match each other pretty well. Pakistan has a better pace attack, while India has a better spin attack.

Batting wise, India has Sachin, Dravid and perhaps Ganguly while we have Younis and the one man test team in Yousuf. Malik and Misbah should be also provide good support as will Dhoni to the Indian team.

Expect some fireworks from Akhtar and Gul. Am delighted to see Gul bowl with pace and control and lets hope Sami can do the same.

A draw is the most likely outcome but lets hope Pakistan can pull out a win :D

salaam oalikum, how are u, i watch the last match of pakistan team against india, this match not seen as a serious match, because the players of both teams are not serious although shoib malik also, during the batting of malik and yousaf we saw most scenes that both are not serious including indian players, this victory i actually not a true victory. i m disisatisfied by the planning of pakistani team and management, i appreciate the lasson that who take interest in pak team coching but the players of pak not interested, im also glad by the performance of new wicketkeeper sarafraz ahmad, i think he is the younger one wicketkeeper now a days cricket
ok
ALLAH HAFFIZ
best wishes for pakistan team

I think it is unfair to say that Malik is goin through a bad patch. We saw his performance against SA and it was pretty decent with Malik goin into 40 regularly. Dun forget that series was decided in the last 6 overs of the final ODI. B4 that we were sure of Pakistan's Victory. In those circumstances he codnt do much. His captaincy Vs Ind was pretty BORING i wod say. The body language of all the players wasnt good. Specially Akhtar n Afridi. And I personally feel that Malik out of respect for the seniors doesnt point out their faults. We saw in the last ODI how Malik got angry on some of the younger players. Even this thing goes in his favour and he would learn with time, how to handle the great and keeping em in a positive mindset.

It may have been a dead rubber, but it was good to see Pakistan fight for it.

Fawad Alam looks to be a very exciting player. Let's hope he comes good for them.

I really wanted malik to succesful and I long with rameez raja am realising he lacks the tacticul skills at this level. He quickly loses focus.LOOKS Engulfed by emotional stress and most times is clueless. I still feel shahid afridi is undermining him . I have more love for M.yousuf who I think is supporting him. Younis khan is just self obesesed. So good luck malik !!

I know this has nothing to do with the subject but I really like to know one thing which maybe one of the regulars of this forum can answer. I remember rather well that Rashid Latif (during his tenure as the captain of Pakistan team) was banned for 5 odd matches because he had appealed for a catch in which the ball had touched the ground. I saw the recent match between Pakistan and India and Dhoni appealed taking a similar catch in which the ball clearly touched the ground.. actually very clearly. No action was or has been taken against him?? any comments !!!

Firstly, I would like to offer my commiserations to the Indians for not being able to whitewash the most listless Pakistani team ever. Secondly, I would like to congratulate the Indians on winning a home-series against us for the first time in 24 years!

Fourthly or um thirdly, for those still keeping track, Ramiz Raja has really managed to get under my skin. Ramiz is in a nutshell, a paradox, an individual full of contradictions. It seems to me that in order to appease his Nimbus BCCI employers, not to mention the Indian audience, he is forever criticizing the Pakistanis and refusing to say anything that would go against the Indians, even if it were true. For instance, during the fourth ODI, when Shahid Afridi was given out, it was clear to everyone that the impact was outside the off stump. However, Ramiz at that point in time uttered and I quote, “It’s a good decision by the umpire” to which Arun Lal responded with his “I agree Ramiz”.. Frankly, I was flabbergasted. And if anyone here thinks I’m full of crap, here’s what the cricinfo commentators had to say:

Ganguly to Shahid Afridi, OUT, Ganguly takes out Afridi. It struck him outside off stump, though. Afridi tried to paddle-sweep a length delivery coming in from just outside off, missed, and was hit on the pad. He was playing a shot and the point of impact was marginally outside off and was definitely unlucky to be given out lbw. That's Ganguly's 100th ODI wicket.

As a neutral commentator, I don’t expect Ramiz to blast the standard of umpiring but this is insane. I am no Afridi fan but as a follower of cricket, I know that a batsman can’t be given out if he is hit outside the line of the off stump, which is precisely what happened in Afridi’s case. Period. Either Ramiz has forgotten the rules of cricket or is another Arun Lal in disguise. I would just like to remind all the regulars here that when India was playing against England and Aleem Dar incorrectly raised his finger to a caught behind appeal against Sachin, the Indian commentators which included Ravi Shastri, Harsha Bhogle and Alan Wilkins, moaned, whined and grumbled throughout the rest of the match. Infact, they even argued that Rahul Dravid wasn’t out even though he had inside-edged the delivery. My point is, I don’t want Ramiz to stoop to this level but I do expect him to be a straight shooter and say it as it is. If it’s a dubious decision, say it’s unfortunate but its cricket and it happens. But geez, don’t say it’s a good decision when every Tom, Dick and Harry knows it isn’t.

In addition, he is forever castigating Yousuf for playing cautiously and selfishly, even though at the end of all his innings, he had a strike rate of more than 88. Ramiz also, inexplicably, during his audio message on cricinfo kept urging Shoaib Malik to open the batting. I mean, yes, I do believe that a captain should lead from the front but when you already have four specialist openers, what’s the point of having a make-shift opener? Malik had been playing really well (down the order) against the South Africans and just needed one innings to get back into the groove, but due to the unnecessary pressure put on him by the Ramiz led Pakistani media, decided to open the innings: S I mean this is preposterous. If a captain is a middle order batsman, it doesn’t mean he HAS to open the innings to lead from the front. Hypothetically, if Symonds was the Australian captain, Ramiz would want him to open the side!???? I mean whose side is Ramiz on ?

At last Shoaib Malik has learnt from his mistakes at last but a match too late. At least he reminded us that he had potential. He is following the footsteps of Inzimam and is too reactive. He has to think one step ahead of the opposition. All his ploys in the previous matches were really expected. As an opposing captain you can predict easily what he would do. The field placing he took for Tendulkar was a good example of how he should manage him self. It was a typical 20\20 field but it worked as Sachin had to change his shots and think differently.
Rao Iftikhar came after a good series against the Proteas and he should have been given the new ball from match 1. Fawad Alam should have been played in place of Abdul Rehaman. And Shoaib Malik should realize that he started his career as a bowler. Sarfaraz Ahmed showed that keeping wickets is not a difficult thing after all.
I am not sure that this consolation win would help Pakistan in the Test series as three players who played vital roles in yesterday’s victory will be leaving the squad. Blaming your bowlers, batsmen and fielders is alright but it is your responsibility to play the right people in accordance to the situation. in a cricket side and especially in ODI the key word is BALANCE even if you have to drop big names.

i would have liked it if the caption is "Malik get a glimpse of his destiny" rather than "Malik masters his destiny" as the author himself points out that one win doesn't eliminate the weaknesses.

u r right but the problem is openers slot we hv not found any good opener since last 8yrs n our bating depends on yousuf n younus ,

Hi Kamran,
I am regular reader of your BLogs!!
isn't that true that u seems to be inspired by a single performence of Pakistani player?
and forget all his flows, like your Blog GUL YORKS PAKISTAN! and some related to afridi.
there is no doubt in potential of all Pakistani players but there is a lack of professionlism in all players.
This seems to be a consistent or contingent disease.
What i think, all players of Pakistan are selfish they seems to play for there own self whether its our skipper or seniors.
what game is demanding from them they never able to deliver.
If you review all those Wins which pakistan acheive after Malik's captaincy u find that all those win were dependent of a single invincible performance but not by a team effort
So final wordings for Malik is that
If a captain is not able to develop a TEAM so he shouldn't deserve to Lead 11 persons.

salam
must disagree with you on this occasion sir,
yes whilst fielding, he has made a few bad decisions. But that is excusable in the cauldron that is a series in India. You must remember he is a fresh captain, and has never had command over the first eleven of the pakistan cricket team.
I will start my defence with odis
With the bat, I believe that Malik is more than capable of leading from the front. He has been along with yousuf Pakistans most consistent batsman in odi. He averages 40 in the last 70 matches. He is the only player in the team that can consistently score at over a 100 strike rate between overs 20-40. He came to open the batting himself in a recent odi, proving he can lead from the front.(only for butt to rip up the script.) So I believe it is an absolute disgrace that ex cricketers question his position in the team. When you do try to attack, there are going to be times when you don't succeed and how you can start questioning his form after 2 innings???!!! He played well against SA and the times and situations he came to bat against India (games where he didn't score much) required he put his foot down.
His batting in Tests was very good also against SA. 73 in first innings of 1st test was good, and he was 8th man out. The way he batted in the second innings of that match was very good. He was last man out and threw his bat when he knew game was over, but otherwise looked like he could hold up an end. In the 2nd test he made 1 and was victim of an amazing catch by amla which happens. In the second innings he remained not out and saved the game.
So the guy is not out of form!!!
Also more generally about his captaincy. He started with an odi win over SL before the successful 20:20 cup.
The test series against SA was tough but you must remember akmals performances in those games, the fact that we didn't win a toss, and that Yousuf didn't play the first game.
AND YOU CANNOT BLAME MALIK FOR THE RESULT IN THE ODI SERIES AGAINST SA. Barring 15 minutes we matched and bettered the number 2 odi side in the world.
Give the guy a break. He will learn quickly. And get behind the Team!

Kamran,

You have brought some good points. I agree with you that a Captain like Malik needs to lead from front. He needs to shine and most importantly like Inzmam, shine, when it matters the most. He needs to show his decisiveness instead looking confused clueless as the Leader is a person whom others look up to. When it comes to aggression yes, here too, he needs to lead from but, he has to be careful. In the 5th one day where he gave an all-round performance, for the first time I saw expressions on his face that resembled with Wasim Akram when he was appointed the captain of Pakistan team for the first time. Akram was appointed captain of Pakistan team not too long after Imran’s era, and as a prodigy of Imran, Akram naturally tried to emulate the style of his mentor.
Here, a Captain needs to be very careful as his aggression, shouting and making faces could easily be interpreted by his mates as a sign of arrogance. This is what I believe happened with Wasim Akram when he was made captain of Pakistan team for the first time. Even though his own performance had not diminished still, as he wanted to be like Imran which was interpreted by his players as a sign of arrogance thus, whole team rebelled against him while Akram was clueless. As you mentioned, every captain can not have the luxury to secure his place like Brearly, I believe, to be like Imran and lead like him, is not everyone’s cup of tea either. What is the solution then? Be like Inzmam. While I never thought that Inzmam was a natural leader as he was too laid back. Yet, he came up with his own style. While he was still laid back, Inzmam, kept scoring runs when the team needed him the most. I believe Malik needs to learn from Inzmam. Be and stay who you are. Malik needs to be Malik as he can not afford to be like Brearly neither he can be like Imran. I believe he has leadership qualities but, he needs to score runs when it matters the most and take crucial wickets as he is a good enough spinner , stay agile on the field as he already is. The rest of the herd will follow him. Most importantly he has to learn and remember that there is a fine line between aggression and arrogance.

Losing the ODI series 3-2 against the strong arch rivals is not such a disgrace really. Many on earlier threads had written Pakistan off completely and some posters were boasting 5-0 annihilation. Even the last ODI, considered irrelevant, was quite important in the context of things to come. For the coming test series, India were hoping to inflict another wound on Pakistan’s psyche by winning 4-1 and Pakistan were hoping to gain a psychological advantage by winning the last match as well. It’s good to see Pakistan won this little contest at the end.

So, the last ODI was not completely irrelevant not only for the above reasons but also for gaining a couple of points in the ICC rankings which Pakistan did at the end and denied India extending their lead further.

Malik needs to be encouraged as he is still new at the helm and young. Mistakes, such as those mentioned by Kamran Abbasi, will be made but he would be better for it so long as he learns from them. As they say you learn from your mistakes. Graham Smith now seems to be doing so well by winning every series but his record was not so great either in his early days as captain. Those gunning for Malik’s removal have no realistic alternative. Other than Younus Khan, who refused captaincy, there is no one really.

I hope Pakistan don’t make a mistake by going with two fast bowlers only for the testes even though the pitches are expected to be spinning tracks. Kaneria alone should be enough as a spinning option and there should be three fast bowlers, preferably, Shoaib Akhtar, Sami and Gul. Two fast bowlers only and two spinners would be a big mistake for two reasons. Firstly, India play spinners really well as even the likes of Shane Warne get hammered in India and secondly, Shoaib and one other seamer only would be very ineffective as Shoaib goes out of steam soon after bowling 3-4 overs. Winning the toss would really be crucial here as the likes of Kaneria will only revel by bowling in the fourth innings.

Well, I think there are other corners to be blamed than Malik. Although Malik has its own strengths and weaknesses but Malik showed that he can lead and lead it quite well. Seeing somebody confused cannot be a benchmark for incompetense. We have seen Ponting clueless when the other side is performing well. Yes I am talking about Ponting who has just to pick the eleven, all experts at their positions, from a set of may be 25 well trained and polished professionals. The professionals who are just waiting, and when given chance are able to score a ton on their debut. Unfortunately, this is not the case with Malik. I don't think that finding a pair of settled openers or a groomed wicketkeeper is the job expected to be performed by Malik. This is where other relevant corners must contribute. Malik, given the available players to him, is I suppose above par as the team, by now requires such a teamman who, apart from being able to remain in the team till atleast next worldcup, should be competent enough to avoid taking decisions based on rush of blood. I think its high time that the musical chair game is stopped and we should focus right persons for right positions rather than searching a right captain like always.

Greetings, folks!

Yes, Pakistan team's win in the last one-day international came at the right time and in the manner that had the fans had wished for.

Pakistan took some bold decisions before the match, one being the axing of shahid Afridi, who gives the feeling that he is greater than the game.

Afridi, a man with plenty of talent, needed that kind of rebuke from the management to remind him of his role in team play. His dismissal in the third one-dayer was atrocious, to say the least. That is what happens when players have their own scores to settle with members of the opposite team. Shoaib Akhtar is another who has committed similar crimes and has led the team down.

Last but not least, I hope Shoaib Malik gets over his 'Shoaib Bhai and Shahid Bhai' mannerisms. He is the captain, for cryin' out loud. He should look like a leader and not like a worry bead, not knowing what to do on the field. He should be able to command respect.

We saw a positive change in his body language in the final game. Hope, it contines.

It could be that Malik and the other young players are hampered and feel stifled by this culture of seniority in Pakistan.

Young players come into the Team full of Confidence and enthusiasm. But are then made to feel inferior by the seniors in the Squad. This Seniority culture was dispensed with long ago in the Corporate World in the West but it seems to remain in Pakistan. Without a few of the Seniors in the Team, Malik in the last match gave a brilliant all round performance and his captaincy had an air of confidence about it.

so I hope they give him a Younger and Youthful Squad for the Zimbabwe series, to see how he performs as Captain. If he still fails to make an impact then its esta La Vista Baby.

There has also been alot of rhetoric about copying the Australian model. Well that is not going to work In Pak.

What we need is a Soviet model, put all therse perennial underachievers and Youngsters with Potential and Shove them into a military Style Bootcamp for cricket For 2 Years. Where every aspect of there game can be corrected, and they can learn the arts of Discipline Dedication and devotion to the game.

Or More appropiately start with a completely Fresh eleven. Afterall all the Players who have been playing for a few years have made the Corn and are extremely wealthy. So lets give an opportunity to others to get rich. A man who is Motivated by Hunger and the need to put food on the Table is gonna an awesome opponent.

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race”

Calvin Coolidge

In the whole series Malik never lookd confident except in the fifth match. That means he is carrying a lot of presure on him. He is very good player but good players cannot be good captains and we can see that. Acording to me Younis Khan should be the captain as he is more relaxed, experienced and more confident player than the malik.

none other than younis can lead us,dis guy shoaib is a failure.....infact i m damn sure that v ve better batsmen than shoaib malik sitting in da reserves...i dont think he even deserves a plave in the playing 11 forget abt captaincy

Well, Shoaib mailk is quie young to be a test captain as well as oneday... he don't have that confident to be the caption in both the fom of games... Abdul Razzak or Yunis Khan could handle the team better.but let us see the test match and we will further decide.....anyway, dog luck for malik and pakistan... although they have wached up our hope in the ODI...

I do find it amazing that Pakistanis as a whole find it diffcult to accept defeat. I am 26 years old and have been watching Pakistan since I was a toddler. Never have I seen Pakistani population be gracious in defeat. I remember the days of when our side would return home from a series loss and people would gather at the airports to throw slippers at them etc.

It is one thing to criticise but to go all out attack on a young side with a new ish captain is very unfortunate. GIVE HIM SOME TIME! Show a little faith for God's sake it is just a game. And maybe when our cricketers realise we will support them regardless, they will not freeze on the pitch and produce the goods consistently.

We played well in the last ODI and thats why we won. I shook my head in disappointment when heard my dad say "series to haar gaye, ab kya faida"

i think Pakistan can take lot of positives from this match especially sarfraz ahmed, fawad alam & malik's own form. fast bowling resources appear to be looking to be good with Shoaib, Gul, Tanveer, Rao and Asif when he comes back. I think we need one more genuine quick for the rotation to work.

ODI batting seems to still have some woes especially opening ... dont understand why Younis Khan hasnt been tried as an opener ??? he has been coming to the wicket by 2nd or 3rd over and has been doing a good job so why cant he open ? this would allow malik to come one down instead of later down the order.
With tests coming around the corner dont understand what happened to Asim Kamal ... he seemed to have the temperament to stay at the wicket and make runs ... he gave excellent performance against RSA the last time they were here but seems to have fallen out of favor from the selectors ... Yasir hameed shud be tried as an opener along with salman, followed by younis, yousuf, malik, asim kamal/misbah, keeper, 4 bowlers (3 Fast + 1 Spinner) ...

Lot of people have said Kaneria didnt do so well against RSA but it is hard to do that when after a long spell you finally break through and your keeper lets u you down ? does anyone think warne would have been that successful if akmal was keeping to him ? dont think so ... players of the calibre of kallis, gibbs, smith give only one chance and then the rest is history ... i hope sarfraz is tried in the 1st test and not akmal !!!

Damn straight!Its about time we saw some backbone! and some roar from our tigers..we have been playing second fiddle for too long, I remember the Pakistan of Imran Khan and even Wasim Akram, that refused to say die and kept on attacking until they won.Sure India may have more bite than before, but Pakistan has always had the edge on them, doesn't matter who is fit or unfit..or about to be unfit!as long as we have enough team spirit and fire in the belly..not much can stand before us...except the AUstralians..thats a whole new ball game..but a bridge to cross when we get to it!

Malik is good captain but please give him some time. almost every Pakistani ex cricketer is criticising his captaincy but they should realize that they are not helping him or Pakistan team but the are just presurizing him and he can not concentrate on his original game. Let him play his natural game and give him some chance to prove that he is best avaiable choice. In last ODI he hase proved some and will do better in coming test series INSHALLAH.

Well I will keep it short and sweet. Younis Khan should be cajoled into accepting the captaincy somehow. You actually get paid to write opinions like Kamran abbasi does, simply priceless!

best f luck to our team.
in ma opinion board shoud forget all lazy n unfit players. n let yuongster show demselves a ftuture f pak

I comply with your analysis as far as your optimism is linked with the performance of the youngsters, yet I don't think that Malik's form would allow him to ride the aggressive beast any longer until and unless he does the overhauling of his mind's engine. I mean there lies no hope for Malik's test captaincy for he to me is least composed and tough to bear the pressure both on and off the field.

Agree with all you say. I just want to add that 2 permanent changes need to be made to the Pakistan Team as of now; as a matter of urgency. Sarfraz instead of Akmal and Alam instead of Afridi. Time to say goodbye to Akmal and Afridi whose undoubted talents they have themselves wasted.

Have to agree with your comments about Malik's captaincy. He needs to step up to the plate more and this last match may finally make him realize that. But the stupidity of the selectors conitues. Afridi (traditionally one of our best performers in tests in India) is sent home. Sami is brought back (ostensibly on the back of good performance in the domestic season.) Well Salahuddin Ahmed has obviously been watching a different domestic season then I have. 8 of Sami's 19 wickets have come in one innings against a weak Sialkot team. Sami is not even the highest wicket taker for his own team! Leave alone the tournament. Compare this to the performances of Mohd. Khalil and Yasir Arafat both of whom have international experience and have better averages and strike rates than Sami in the current season, not to mention they have been more consistent. The we have Fawad Alam pigeon holed as a 20/20 and ODI player (here even you too, Kamran, are at fault) Yet this kid averages over 46 in first class cricket. Surely he would have been a better investment then bringing back Faisal Iqbal who's technical weaknesses are well documented.

So you see in the end, the more things change the more they remain the same....