Re: Shoaib Malik as opener: Your Verdict.
Malik is not of the same class that of Sehwag and Saeed Anwar for obvious reasons, Saeed and Sehwag started their careers as regular batsmen, both excelled in the one day format and were considered far too risky for test cricket, which they eventually proved wrong with their strong performances. Malik started his career as a bowler, to his credit he has improved his batting and is a asset for one day cricket. BUT, his test career of 9 1/2 matches does not speak much for his batting prowess at test level. By the ninth test match both Saeed and Sehwag had established themselves as regular openers for their resp countries with some memorable match winning innings. So lets be fair and not compare greats with budding average joes.
When we use Sewag as a analogy then why do we forget that 99% of successful openers have been techinically correct players. Even today, we have examples of Langer, Hayden, Fleming, Strauss, Trescothic who are all exceptional batsmen with a track record which speaks for itself. Why lower our benchmark for opening batsmen? Why do we have to believe everything that comes out of Bob Woolmers mouth, after all he is answerable for his inability to lay the foundations of a regular opening pair?