Excellent interview by Inzimam before tomorrow’s game. Interesting view of trying to establish Malik as a specialist no 3 to accomodate an extra bowler in the future. That would make sense assuming he is up to the job and i think he probably is. He is capable of hitting over the close fielders so his limited stroke range wouldn’t be a handicap.
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COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq believes that the pressure of remaining in contention for a place in the Asia Cup final will take precedence over the customary pressure of playing against India when the two sides meet here on Sunday.
“Sunday’s match is more important to us because we have to win it to stay in the Asia Cup. I don’t think the fact that we are playing against India is going to be such a big factor in our preparations and mindset for the game,” he said in an interview.
“Basically, after our very poor performance against Sri Lanka we just have to win or we are out of the Asia Cup and that would be a big disappointment since we are the defending champions,” he said.
He said it would not matter who Pakistan would have played on Sunday because of the situation confronting his team.
“Yes, playing India always has that special thing to it. And we did lose to them at home. But after what happened against Sri Lanka I think it is a question of survival not revenge now. And the boys know it. So I think perhaps this is the best time to play India. It would be nice to win that game and as a result remain in the tournament.”
Pakistan was dismissed for its lowest one-day score against Sri Lanka and in the Asia Cup (122) as Sri Lanka romped home by seven wickets on Wednesday.
Asked how difficult would it be for him as captain and his team to raise its game against India after the humiliating defeat to India, he said the silver lining was that the bowlers after a long time had bowled really well.
“I was very pleased with how Shoaib, Sami, Shabbir and Razzaq bowled and bowling has always been our strong point. Hopefully, against India this would be our main strength.”
The Pakistan skipper also made it clear there were no excuses for what happened against Sri Lanka. “We just played very poorly. It was a very bad day for us. There was nothing wrong with the pitch. It was just that once the early pressure came on us we just never came out of it. And I think me and Youhana getting out in the same over was the turning point of the match,” he stated.
“Such things happen in international cricket. It has happened before with us and other teams. So it is no use now finding scapegoats for our performance. I have told the boys to put it out of their minds and get on with the coming match. I know my players are much better players and it was just one bad day for us.”
Inzamam insisted that every effort would be made to ensure the same performance was not repeated against India.
He also defended the promotion of Shoaib Malik to the number three position and explained why Yousuf Youhana was not batting at number three.
“Look, Youhana does not feel comfortable batting at number three and he has made this clear to us. We have to respect that. The reason we promoted Malik is because we have been facing problems with our bowling and we need six bowlers for the one-dayers. The idea is that if Malik can establish himself as a number three batsman then we have the option of playing that extra bowler or allrounder. It is something we have thought about and we will see how it goes. So far Malik has not done badly and he is game for the responsibility,” Inzamam said. Also insisting that he was satisfied with the selection for the Asia Cup he said it was not right for critics to start questioning the selection if something went wrong. On the exclusion of Asim Kamal and all-rounder Muhammad Hafeez for the tournament, he said Hafeez was not picked because he had not done anything at the domestic level.
“And I don’t believe in selecting someone who has not fared well at the domestic level. Asim is a very fine batsman and has done well in the tests he has played and I am sure with time he will get a chance in the one-dayers also.”
The Pakistan skipper however made an interesting observation when asked how much time he had given himself and what benchmark he had set for the team under new coach Bob Woolmer.
"Woolmer has just joined us, he has hardly spent three weeks with us and he is doing what he has been hired for. But personally speaking I believe all of us in the team are now experienced players and we are supposed to perform at this level no matter who the coach is.
I don’t believe in this rebuilding talk and about a time frame for producing results. I think given our experience and that the fact that we have a settled team, the nation has every right to expect us to do well in every match that we play," he declared.
He also added that as far as the new coach was concerned, he had not been facing any communication problems with him and things were working out well.
“We have some tough series coming up and I think our target should be to embark on the Australian tour having done well in the events leading to it.”
**Asked what he felt about the strong words used by Woolmer in the post match conference after the defeat to Sri Lanka, Inzamam said it was understandable because no coach likes his team to perform like this and the batsmen to play so irresponsibly.
“When I am not happy so why should the coach not say things the way they should be in black and white,” he questioned.**](Daily Jang: Urdu News - Latest Breaking News update Pakistan - jang.com.pk survival our prime objective in India game: Inzamam)