Shoaib Malik’s resurgence

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Shoaib Malik’s resurgence, and hot chasing streaks

S Rajesh

February 17, 2006

Pakistan’s batting line-up for the one-day internationals against India has come in for plenty of flak: Imran Khan has been the most vocal of the critics, questioning the policy of sending in lesser batsmen at the start and keeping the three big guns - Inzamam, Yousuf and Younis - back for the later overs. The tactic is a debatable one, but one batsman who has deserved his spot at the top is Shoaib Malik. Before his failure in the fourth game at Multan, he had scores of 90, 95 and 108 in his three innings.

Since Bob Woolmer took over, the change in Shoaib Akhtar has been publicised and written about the most, but the manner in which the other Shoaib has flowered has been equally impressive. The table below compares Malik the batsman in his first 68 matches to his last 43, all of them under Woolmer. The contrast is stark.

Shoaib Malik’s rise as a batsman Matches Runs Average 100s/ 50s


First 68 1264 26.89 2/ 4 
Last 43 1677 44.13 3/ 14

Not only has Malik been the batting star for Pakistan - only Inzamam (1434 runs at 46.26) has averaged more for the side in the last 20 months - he is also among the most prolific batsmen in world cricket in ODIs during this period. The table below lists the cream of the crop, and Malik sits proud at fourth spot, ahead of the likes of Rahul David, Marvan Atapattu and Ricky Ponting.

Best ODI batsmen since July, 2004


(Min 30 ODI innings) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s 
Mahendra Singh Dhoni 30 1056 50.29 2/ 5 
Michael Clarke 41 1453 48.43 1/ 11 
Inzamam-ul-Haq 38 1434 46.26 0/ 14 
Shoaib Malik 41 1677 44.13 3/ 14 
Rahul Dravid 48 1747 43.68 3/ 16 
Kumar Sangakkara 53 1985 42.23 1/ 18 
Marvan Atapattu 40 1537 41.54 1/ 14 
Ricky Ponting 45 1703 41.54 4/ 10

And no prize for guessing who the best No.3 batsman has been during this period. Malik’s runs at that position have come an incredible rate of 47 per innings. Combine that with a scoring rate of 83 runs per 100 balls - a touch higher than Ponting’s 82 - and it’s a combination which is tough to beat. His ability to switch gears and bat according to the needs of the team means that, despite Pakistan’s debacle against India, he is likely to retain that spot for a fair period of time.

Top ODI batsmen at No.3 since July, 2004
(


at least 20 ODIs at No.3) Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s 
Shoaib Malik 25 1141 47.54 2/ 9 
Ricky Ponting 45 1703 41.54 4/ 10 
Michael Vaughan 24 695 38.61 0/ 8 
Kumar Sangakkara 24 860 37.39 0/ 9 
Jacques Kallis 25 803 36.50 1/ 6

now wat does Mr.Imran khan say abt this???

rest of the article:- http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/columns/content/story/237528.html

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Re: Shoaib Malik’s resurgence

Malik's technique, though, looks very suspect against short-bowling(eg bouncers).

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Re: Shoaib Malik’s resurgence

Imran is doing all he can to ruin his own reputation and the respect he enjoys from his fans. How can you test & train new armoury if you continue to bank only on big guns? By the way, Inzi when he entered international cricket, also used to come high up the order, he even has a good record as opener and one-down position.

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Re: Shoaib Malik’s resurgence

he has that problem from day ONE!!!i refuse to accept that woolmer has improved his batting alot,maybe a little bit but certainly not much :nook:

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Re: Shoaib Malik’s resurgence

Ah, our dear Imran is in the picture, once again.

From my point of view, this is the problem in our batting order, with Shoaib Malik being the star performer in #3 position. As mentioned several times in the past, almost all big guns and top-quality batters of any team, bat in the top four positions. They are the main backbone of the team, they are the players who have the capability to drop anchor in almost any situation. With Inzamam thrusting Malik up the order before himself, Yousuf and Younis, this strategy has severely backfired, and all of the "supposed" main 'cream-of-the-crop' batsmen of our team have failed to make a sizeable and decent contribution in this series (save the last encounter, where the likes of Sami tarnished that image as well). Malik is a genuine hitter of the cricket ball, whileas the likes of Inzamam, Yousuf and Younis are needed to tick the scoreboard over and rotate the strike, which is especially needed in the middle overs. One cannot refuse to look past this lynchpin and mainstay, when we have three of the top batsmen in the team, all refusing to come up the order to save a sinking ship when the situation requires it.

Even though, as widely known, Inzamam's 'age-old' antics will never allow him to bravely implement this strategy and even though he will consistently send Malik up the order before the big guns, the flogging massacre in this series should serve as a wake-up call and realization should be made that even though we have a tendency to brush the defeats under the carpet and we consistently like to remind ourselves of the past victories and whatnot, it is of absolute necessity that such empty discharge of flow heavily needs to be magnified under a microscope. Only then, we can further isolate the problems and help solve this unreasonable set of sequences of issues that we have created upon ourselves, for no given and apparent reason.

harley davidson