Shoaib Malik’s initiation in to the captaincy has been a mixed one. He began smoothly in May last year with an ODI series-win over Sri Lanka, and led a young side to the final of the ICC World Twenty20 in September.
Since then, the going has been rougher, with four consecutive series losses (ODI and Test) to South Africa and India cranking up the pressure on him. Talk of new captains hasn’t been far away, despite the Pakistan board appointing him captain until December 2008.
But as he prepares to lead Pakistan in their first assignment of 2008, against Zimbabwe, he is hoping a new year might bring new results. “I am more confident now as captain,” he told reporters days before the first ODI in Karachi.
“The senior players are supporting me and I’m happy the board has placed its confidence in me. I don’t worry about how much time I have. I admit mistakes were made in the last seven months, but this year there will be no repeat.”
Poor results bring their own pressure, often putting personal performances out of context. Malik’s ODI numbers since taking over as captain aren’t bad - from 13 matches he averages four runs more than his career average of 34 - yet he was still asked about a dip in form.
“I don’t think my recent record is that bad if you look at it. In my last match in Jaipur, I was player of the match [for an all-round performance]. I just want to make sure that the consistency is there,” he said.
Malik also asked for more time to be given to Geoff Lawson, who took over as Pakistan’s coach last August, stressing that this was his first international assignment in that role. Though not overtly criticised, Lawson’s impact has been repeatedly questioned and some officials have been privately underwhelmed by his contribution so far.
“Bob Woolmer had his own skills, Geoff has his own,” Malik countered. “Bob came with a lot of top experience with South Africa and Warwickshire while this is Geoff’s first international role. It takes time to settle in to that and we should give him that.”
There was doubt over Malik’s participation in the run-up to the Zimbabwe series due to an ankle injury sustained in India, but he believes he has now fully recovered. “I am fit. I came through my rehabilitation, passed a fitness test and am doing everything the others were at the camp.”
With Australia scheduled to arrive soon - to provide the sternest test yet to his leadership - Zimbabwe offers Malik the perfect platform to chalk up some morale-boosting wins, ideally on the back of some impressive personal contributions. “This is a good opportunity to try out some young talent and to work out plans ahead of the Australia series. You can’t underestimate Zimbabwe, but we will put all our efforts in to it.”
Malik can say what he likes but the real test will be the home series against Australia (if it ever happens). The Zimbabwe series does not count for much. Such PR comments do not mean much unless Pakistan (and Malik) actually start performing against the very best in tests. And the litmus test for me is how Pakistan perform the next time they tour Australia.
We should start praising every success....look at Indians they do celebrate. They know how to attract the media on every victory. No matter how weak or strong the oppenent might be.
I'm glad this year starts with a warm-up series against Zimbabwe, rest will be decided and dependend on each players performance. I want to see PCB doing more than what they have done in past. And cut out the politics out of the game please!
^ Agreed but equally we should not overyhype meaningless series against weaker teams such as Zimbabwe and WI. We need to start beating real opposition (i.e. Australia and South Africa) in their own territories if we want to be reckoned again as a force in cricket. A competitive performance against either at home would be a good start. bohat jald (against Australia. assuming the series goes ahead) pata chal jayega k hum kitnay paani main hain. I would excuse the last performance in England in 2006 since our batsmen in particular Yousuf and Younis scored heavily (I think we made 500+ in an innings twice) but PAK were severely depleted in the bowling department by untimely injuries to both Asif and Akhtar.
No series is meaningless, yes some are more important and competitive than others. if the only meaningful series is how a team performs against Australia and SA than why bother playing any other series. Zimbabwe is a lightweight series but the way our team has performed recently maybe that is exactly what is required for them to gain some confidence. Aus and SA are not the end all as far as cricket goes.
With the newbies on board for a longer period now (hopefully If PCB doesnt mess It up), we will beat almost every team. Inshallah! Its high time for Pak Crickets successfull come back.
I am not completely dismissing the value of lesser series. Their main purpose should be to test new talent, something that has not been happening in Pakistan atleast since Inzi became captain in 2004. The PCB would be well-advised to give all 3 or 4 newbies in the squad a break in this series. It does n't matter whether we win 5-0 or 3-2 but if one or two of the newbies can come up with some solid performances, we would have accomplished our mission. We have no real back-ups in the fast bowling and opening departments. It's time we looked beyond Akhtar, Asif and Gul, all of whom are very injury prone. Not saying discard them but we do need back-up talent against top opposition.
I have always advised to look at the fine print. I don't think we have performed that badly in past year, infact I don't mind Malik as a captain. Problem is he can not perform at his best when leading the side. Its just a consistent fact. In order for a team to win, captain must be at top of his game. When we use to win with Inzamam, namely series against India, England and test match against South Africa, captain jee was at top of his game. It inspires the team.
If we look at the ODI series against SA and Ind, we lost by some runs. Problem is we have not found the replacement of Razzaq, thanks to Misbah who have filled up the void left by Inzamam, otherwise situatuion would have been even more worse.
Malik, if he can't play first down, needs to come at lower order and help post up a good score. He has tremendous help in shape of Yousuf, Younis and Misbah. Other thing he needs to understand is that Akmal, Afridi are not openers.
Fielding will improve when team is aggressive and over time I think he can learn to change bowlers and set up field placement.
Moreover, PCB needs to end its obession with flat track. When you have bowlers like Asif, Gul and others at hand than you really don't need to have to rely on batsmen to win games. Our bowlers have lot of variety in them, which is why we made it to Twenty 20 final.
I agree on his own game not upto par and that affecting team's performance as well. When we have proper openers (selectors are working on it), fit bowlers and middle order doing his best (including our top gun Yusuf) things will start to change. Inshallah.