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"I want a second chance. I want to serve my country again" : Saleem Malik

Saleem Malik in the news again due to Warne raking up old stuff
 
One of the few genuinely class pakistani batsmen , its a shame forgiveness for us pakistani isnt common
 
One of the few genuinely class pakistani batsmen , its a shame forgiveness for us pakistani isnt common

Pakistan has forgiven many - Amir, Afridi, Akhtar etc.
Malik's case got highlighted too much by media. So no way he could be taken back.
Now though I am ok with him getting a second chance.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OnThisDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OnThisDay</a> in 1963. Saleem Malik who when at his best made batting look so easy, was born in Lahore <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/bAe5Z92YYD">pic.twitter.com/bAe5Z92YYD</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1250758307180142592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Tainted former Pakistan captain Saleem Malik has decided to approach the ICC after failing to get a reply from the country’s board on his plea to help him get back to cricket activities again.

According to Pakistan Cricket Board sources, Malik cannot take up any cricket activities in the country despite a lower court overturning the life ban imposed on him on charges of corrupt practices.

“I have written to the PCB asking them to send me the questionnaire which they want to ask me about my meetings in London and also have informed them I am ready to meet all conditions of anti-corruption code rehabilitation program,” Malik said.

“But so far they have not responded so I have decided that I will also approach the ICC to get justice. I stand cleared by a court of law and there is no reason for either the ICC or PCB to stop me from getting involved in cricket activities again.”

The former batsman was banned for life for match-fixing by the PCB in 2000 on the recommendations of the Justice Malik Qayyum inquiry report.

But in 2008, he got the life ban overturned by a district and sessions court in Lahore.

The board has said it first wants him to clarify some issues pertaining to his having meetings in London in 2011.

Malik also confirmed he was concerned about the future of his son who he claimed was a very good cricketer.

“No one should show bias against my son because of me. He is a very talented cricketer but they didn’t select him for the Under-19 team saying he is overage which is not true,” Malik said.

The former captain said he wanted to get involved in coaching at the National Cricket Academy.

“I have no desire to join the Pakistan team in any capacity and I will be happy coaching at the NCA,” he said.

https://indianexpress.com/article/s...saleem-malik-decides-to-approach-icc-6407015/
 
All Tainted and banned cricketers want a high paying coaching job. Some have admitted guilt like Danish Kaneria, M Asif, Salman Butt and other like the Kamran Akmal, Saleem Malik and Ata ur Rehman etc to this day remain defiant and maintain innocence.
Now I see why giving a second chance to Mohd Amir was a Mistake? because now every corrupt cricketer wants the royal treatment and no one even shows an iota of remorse. Rameez is right.
 
LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has once again made a contact with former Pakistan captain Salim Malik, sending a questionnaire relating to a pending inquiry against him, since 2011.

Sources told Dawn on Thursday that until and unless Malik replies to the pending inquiry, he will not be cleared to join any cricket body affiliated with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The inquiry is related to his alleged meetings held in the UK in 2000 when he was banned for life by retired Justice Abdul Qayyum Commission the same year. After the commission banned him for life, it is alleged that Malik had some suspected meetings in the UK, the transcripts of which were obtained by the ICC and which raised doubts over the purpose of these meetings.

Later, Salim succeeded in winning a case against the ban from a civil court in 2008. The PCB did not challenge the verdict of the court as Malik was cleared. The PCB also paid his provident fund and other dues after the court’s verdict.

Former chairman PCB Ijaz Butt also appointed him as head coach in the National Cricket Academy in the same year of 2008 but the PCB failed to get the backing of ICC in that decision and it was overturned within hours. Later, the ICC anti-corruption unit initiated another inquiry against Salim Malik in 2011 about his meetings held in the UK.

In a recent media talk, PCB’s lawyer Taffazul Rizvi had pointed out that first Salim should provide answers to the questions he was given in 2011 and only then he will be allowed to work in cricket-related projects. Salim, however, has denied that he was ever given any such questions about any meetings in the UK. To that, the PCB has responded now and have once again sent him the questionnaire pertaining to the inquiry.

A PCB spokesman said no ban exists on Salim Malik but an inquiry is pending against him since 2011.

Despite repeated efforts, Salim Malik could not be contacted on his cell phone.

It is interesting to note, however, that from the year 2000 to his clearance from the court in 2008, the ICC did not ask Salim to answer any questions about any inquiry related to his UK meetings.

Salim, now 57, represented Pakistan in 103 Tests and 283 ODIs and was considered one of the finest batsmen ever produced by Pakistan. He is also in the list of successful captains of the country.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1557145/p...salim-malik-with-reference-to-his-uk-meetings
 
LAHORE: Currently facing an inquiry, former Pakistan skipper Salim Malik on Friday came out all guns blazing saying he will face the new probe initiated by the Pakistan Cricket Board against him, and strongly criticised the appointment of Nadeem Khan as PCB director high performance.

Salim appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to take action over the said appointment in which he claimed merit was totally ignored.

Talking to Dawn, Salim said he had received a questionnaire from the PCB. “I will give a perfect reply to all the questions,” stated the former right-handed batsman who was banned for life over his involvement in match-fixing in 2000.

The PCB claims that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had a transcript of Salim Malik’s meetings in the UK back in 2000, when he was banned by retired Justice Malik Qayyum in a match-fixing probe the same year.

However, the case surfaced again in 2011, three years after Salim succeeded in winning a case against his life ban in a lower court in 2008.

“This new inquiry which the PCB claims it received from the ICC in 2011 is a totally false claim,” the 57-year-old Salim insisted.

“In the past when I was banned, I was told by the PCB about this new case and I have been requesting the PCB officials namely Haroon Rasheed, Intikhab Alam and others to give me any ICC document about that case, but none of them gave me even a single paper,” he maintained.

“Now they [PCB] have sent me a questionnaire comprising 50 questions but [with] no ICC document attached. The media should ask the PCB to show them ICC’s transcript against me,” he said.

Salim has been given 15 days to respond to the questionnaire. “In fact, when one has been punished in any case then the ICC has no further concern in that case. When I was banned by Justice Qayyum, for what [purpose] the ICC is showing interest in my case. It is wrong that the ICC has any concern in my case,” he remarked. “Though I had been fighting my case in the lower court till 2008 against the ban and the PCB has the same transcript which it talked about with me in 2000. But it did not contest it in the lower court. If they did not contest [it] deliberately, it is also a criminal act.”

Salim said he had gone through the questionnaire sent to him by the PCB. “But those queries are irrelevant,” he reckoned and claimed that a strong group within the PCB had been working against him.

Meanwhile, Salim said it was shameful that Nadeem Khan, who failed in NCA coaching course, has been appointed as PCB director high performance.

“I appeal to [Prime Minister] Imran Khan, who has been a staunch campaigner of merit and transparency, to take notice of this appointment,” Salim said.

The former Pakistan captain said the PCB always considers such cricketers for high posts who have played one or two international matches because “the PCB knows that it would be hard for them to handle star cricketers”. “Where are Younis Khan, Pakistan’s top run-getter in Tests, and stylish batsman Mohammad Yousuf? Younis also won the 2009 T20 World Cup as captain. Similarly, where is Javed Miandad, the top legendary batsman produced by this country?” he asked.

“I have been raising this point that there is no need to play 100 Test matches for Pakistan, just one or two are enough because the PCB likes low-profile cricketers who can work like puppets. But a star cricketer cannot dance to their tune,” Salim, who played 103 Tests and 283 ODIs from 1982 to 2000, said sarcastically.

When highlighted that the PCB says Nadeem’s assignment is not coaching related but largely concerns strategies and administrative affairs, as he has worked as administrator of the UBL Sports Complex, Salim retorted: “If Nadeem has run any company as CEO, does deserve such a big post? There have been a good number of cricketers, who have served Pakistan cricket but such persons are not required by the PCB, while in other countries they [boards] love them.

“Imran Khan as captain fought many times with the PCB on selection affairs to uphold merit. However, unfortunately it is no longer the case in the incumbent PCB where a strong lobby is busy in bringing in its like-minded cricketers, ignoring merit in the process.”

https://www.dawn.com/news/1557364/salim-malik-vows-to-give-perfect-reply-to-pcb-questionnaire
 
Don't think Salim Malik should be criticising the PCB publically like this especially when he is appealing for their help as well at the same time.

I wonder if he has any issues with Nadeem Khan?
 
When highlighted that the PCB says Nadeem’s assignment is not coaching related but largely concerns strategies and administrative affairs, as he has worked as administrator of the UBL Sports Complex, Salim retorted: “If Nadeem has run any company as CEO, does deserve such a big post? There have been a good number of cricketers, who have served Pakistan cricket but such persons are not required by the PCB, while in other countries they [boards] love them.

Well... yes... it’s an administrative job so a CEO would be far more qualified than someone like Younis Khan or Mohammad Yousuf. God forbid.

Just the usual attention seeking stuff from another ex cricketer
 
So modus operandi of these crooks is to betray the country, make lots of money, when caught deny and claim conspiracy, then come clean after years and say they weren't alone but won't tell us who the others were, ask for forgiveness and tell us they have a lot to contribute. The PCB should come out and tell them to get lost.
 
Might’ve been a cricketing genius but it’s too late to for remorse now.
 
Time for Salim Malik to put up or shut up.

He's being saying a lot recently and now it's time for him to deliver and actually prove that he is worthy of a second chance.
 
Time for Salim Malik to put up or shut up.

He's being saying a lot recently and now it's time for him to deliver and actually prove that he is worthy of a second chance.

Personally speaking, I feel that this is a real own goal from Salim Malik, if he had any aspirations of returning to the professional game in a coaching capacity.

A better strategy would have been to show contrition, complete the questionnaire and request the PCB for the ICC trascript. It's not as if he can be punished twice even if something did come up from 2011.

He then discredits the PCB by going for the usual 'somebody has an agenda against me' stance, when he should be going for a much more conciliatory tone, to atleast get on their good side.

And finally he ridicules the pcb by harshly criticising Nadeem Khan's appointment, by using the questionable logic that only a big player can be an effective coach. There are literally scores of players with average careers who became legendary coaches and administrators. This statement again goes against the current PCB approach, where a clear effort is being made by the body to professionalise itself by employing capable people rather than 'names'.

Lastly, his reaching put to Imran Khan to get a reprieve, rather than going through the proper PCB channels is just so incredibly archaic, and frustrating to see.

I had, as a fan, forgiven Malik and hoped to see him use his knowledge and experience to help the PCB again. However these new, incredibly I'll advised comments have stopped any chance of that happening.

Let's see what happens...
 
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According to many sources Salim Malik is only trying to get into Pakistan Cricket so that his son doesn't face any problems with his cricketing career. His son got black listed by the U19 selectors because he was Salim Malik's son but they say his son is a very good batsman.
 
After all the crap this man has pulled over the years, you'd expect a bit of humility. Ridiculous outburst that should put an end to any talk of Salim making a comeback into the setup.
 
According to reports:

Saleem Malik says he has got PCB's questionnaire and he will file the answer after Eid; says I remained quiet for too long, wont make same mistake again
 
Over to Malik.

Last chance saloon for him.

Put up, or shut up.
 
Pakistan’s tainted former captain Saleem Malik has received a letter from PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit, asking him to respond to a set of questions which include those pertaining to his meetings with some people in London in 2011.

Malik, who was banned for life in 2000 by a judicial commission for match-fixing but was cleared by a sessions court in 2008, had launched a campaign to force the Pakistan Cricket Board to give him clearance to get back to cricket activities.

The 57-year-old said he will be replying to the questions with all honesty as he bids to return to cricket again.

“I have sent the questionnaire to my lawyers and I am going to answer to each and each every question honestly. I have had enough of keeping quiet. I will now write down the truth,” he said.

Malik said the questions pertained to his career as a Pakistan captain, players and events leading to his ban and thereafter.

Malik said he was made a scapegoat in 2000 and now he was fed up with the situation.

“Others named in the same report have gone on to get big positions in cricket and are working. I have been struggling for past 20 years to get permission to get involved in coaching. Why is it like this when my ban has been lifted,” he said.

Malik, who played 103 Tests and over 200 ODIs, said he was keen to get clearance as his son was a very talented player and he didn’t want him to suffer because of him.

“They didn’t select him for junior level saying he was overage which is not right. But I want my son to play on merit. If he is good he should get his chances.”

The Justice Malik Qayyum banned Malik for life in 2000 but had also outlined a number of recommendations pertaining to other players questioned in the inquiry, who were deemed to not have cooperated in the probe.


https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cric...-truth-wants-coaching-job/article31668388.ece
 
Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik has refused to respond to the questionnaire sent to him by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in connection to a couple of meetings he had after he was banned for life for match-fixing in 2000, according to sources.

The Board, which is yet to clear Malik despite a lower court overturning the life ban imposed on him on charges of corrupt practices, had issued a notice to him in 2013 over the nature of these two meetings.

But, instead of replying to the questionnaire, Malik, who played 103 Tests between 1982 and 1999, has demanded the PCB to furnish the audio or video recordings of the transcript the Board had sent to him.

A source closed to Malik told PTI that he has not responded to the questions put forth by PCB’s Anti-Corruption Unit. Malik’s lawyer will intimate this to the Board on Wednesday.

The Board’s questionnaire pertained to some meetings Malik had in London in 2011 with some people, among them said to be a reporter of a now defunct tabloid newspaper in the UK.

“Malik in his reply has asked the PCB to send him the audio or video recordings of the transcript they have sent him,” the source said.

“Malik’s contention is that if the International Cricket Council or PCB has any audio or video recordings of his conversations in London they should send him those as evidence to back up the transcript,” he added.

The source said Malik had taken the stance that since he met with a lot of people and the meetings were held so many years back, he could not recall the exact conversation he had in those meetings.

“Malik’s contention is that even the newspaper the Board has referred to in the questionnaire has now been closed down because of unethical practices,” the source said.

“In short, Malik has dismissed the questionnaire and also asked the Board that if they have evidence about his meetings why didn’t they submit those in a court of law against him.”

The 57-year-old Malik was banned for life in 2000 on the recommendations of the Justice Malik Qayyum Commission but after appealing the ban in the Supreme Court, the matter was referred to a lower court which in 2008 permitted him to take part in cricket activities.

Malik has been asking the Board to allow him get back to cricket activities. He has said he wants to get involved in coaching youngsters and ready to follow all Anti-Corruption reforms and laws.

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cric...etings-in-london-life-ban/article31732489.ece
 
So after complaining that PCB hadnt contacted him, he now says he cannot remember etc!
 
So after complaining that PCB hadnt contacted him, he now says he cannot remember etc!

Its been 20 years, obviously his stance that he can't remember the conversation being referred to will be considered justified. But the NOTW gave the ICC the videos and the audio transcripts of the sting operation so should not be hard to provide Malik with this material to clear all doubts.

Also why didn't the PCB use this material and information against him when he was contesting the life ban in court?
 
LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik, who is facing an inquiry initiated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) allegedly for his suspect role in a transcript received from the ICC, has said that he has prepared his reply to the questions raised in the said inquiry.

Talking to Dawn, Salim said that he had completed his home work with the help of his lawyer and most likely he would submit his reply to the PCB on Monday.

Salim received a questionnaire from the PCB last month comprising almost 50 questions about that inquiry which has been pending since 2011 as per the claim of the PCB. However, Salim has the stance that he never received any document in the past about the said inquiry.

Salim Malik was handed a life ban by the one-man judicial commission of Justice (retd.) Malik Mohammad Qayyum in 2000 after probing betting and gambling allegations on the Pakistan team. Later, though, Salim fought his case in a lower court which lifted the ban in 2008. But the PCB’s doors for Salim have remained closed eversince.

In 2011, the PCB has sent him a transcript, which it claimed it received from the ICC about his role in the suspected meetings held in U.K in 2000. Salim has, however denied that he received any such material from the PCB in 2011.

He has contested that if the PCB had any such material with it, why had it not produced the same in the court when he fought his case against the life ban of eight years, finally winning the verdict in 2008.

Dawn learnt that Salim is quite hopeful about getting a clearance from the PCB’s incumbent body, as many officials who were against him in the previous set-ups are no more attached with the Board.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1561613/salim-malik-hopeful-of-clearance-after-reply-to-pcbs-questionnaire
 
Apparently, these alleged meetings took place after Malik was cleared by the court.

The article is inaccurate, the notw sting operation against Malik took place in April May 2000 and that is what the ICC PCB want answers from Malik for. The PCB should have presented this in court against him from 2000-2008
 
LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Salim Malik, who is facing an inquiry initiated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) allegedly for his suspect role in a transcript received from the ICC, has said that he has prepared his reply to the questions raised in the said inquiry.

Talking to Dawn, Salim said that he had completed his home work with the help of his lawyer and most likely he would submit his reply to the PCB on Monday.

Salim received a questionnaire from the PCB last month comprising almost 50 questions about that inquiry which has been pending since 2011 as per the claim of the PCB. However, Salim has the stance that he never received any document in the past about the said inquiry.

Salim Malik was handed a life ban by the one-man judicial commission of Justice (retd.) Malik Mohammad Qayyum in 2000 after probing betting and gambling allegations on the Pakistan team. Later, though, Salim fought his case in a lower court which lifted the ban in 2008. But the PCB’s doors for Salim have remained closed eversince.

In 2011, the PCB has sent him a transcript, which it claimed it received from the ICC about his role in the suspected meetings held in U.K in 2000. Salim has, however denied that he received any such material from the PCB in 2011.

He has contested that if the PCB had any such material with it, why had it not produced the same in the court when he fought his case against the life ban of eight years, finally winning the verdict in 2008.

Dawn learnt that Salim is quite hopeful about getting a clearance from the PCB’s incumbent body, as many officials who were against him in the previous set-ups are no more attached with the Board.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1561613/salim-malik-hopeful-of-clearance-after-reply-to-pcbs-questionnaire

In another interview, he has said that he will take anyone to court if they try and connect him with match-fixing; that he has completed the response to the questionnaire and it will be filed on Monday and that he will be cleared by courts.
 
Pakistan’s former captain Saleem Malik, during a talk with media personnel on Monday, claimed that he had provided a detailed response to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on their questionnaire regarding his involvement in match-fixing while stating that the allegations against him are a pack of lies.

The 57-year-old expressed confusion in the involvement of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in his matter claiming that the PCB had not presented this point in any court.

“I have given a detailed response. I would like that say that ICC, which is always asleep, wakes up in my case. I don’t think the ICC has ever asked the PCB about me. Whenever a player is punished, it is no longer in the domain of the ICC. They look at what the cricket board has done in cases of punishments. It has been 20 years since my case and the script that I have been sent is totally nullified and false. The reason for this is that the ICC and the PCB were asked by the Supreme Court to present evidence. I have been fighting my case for eight years. They didn’t present any evidence during that time. Now that I have been cleared, they are saying that the ICC is against it. Why did they (PCB) not present this problem in court? All of these are just a pack of lies and I believe that there is a lobby against me. New people are in power now and I hope something good happens,” Malik said.

The former cricketer was hopeful of getting a reply from the PCB in 15 days while praising the power of social media for bringing his issue to the forefront.

“They asked me to reply within 15 days. Now I will also hope that they will respond in 15 days as well and the media is there to ask the questions. I have presented my answers,” he said.

“I have never been quiet. I got disheartened. When I used to do a press conference before nobody came. Now social media helps take out the message to everyone. I don’t like people coming on TV and taking my name. If they say anything about me then they probably don’t respect our courts,” he added.

Malik emphasised that he had never spoken ill of any other former cricketer while terming the Justice Qayyum report as biased.

“I have never taken names. I always ask about why this is happening to me. I never criticise former players who have done great things for the country. I always say that everyone should be treated equally. If you are treating others well, than I have always helped Pakistan gain substantial victories. There is no value to the Justice Qayyum report. He said himself that he left some players which made his judgment biased,” he concluded.

https://cricketpakistan.com.pk/en/n...esponds-to-pcbs-questionnaire-on-match-fixing
 
58 years old on 16th April - one wonders how things could have turned out had he not strayed from the path!
 
Shane warne and Mark waugh openly accused Salim malik of offering them money to fix matches in 1994 Australia's tour of Pakistan. If this accusation was true, then salim malik took match-fixing to a next level and his case is very different from the other players who were involved in match-fixing or spot-fixing. Unlike Malik, they did not try to cooperate with opposing team to fix matches.

If Warne and Waugh lied and falsely accused Malik, then Salim malik could have easily sued them for slander or defamation, but he was unable to do that
 
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Salim Malik - the 80's ODI batsman!!

Screenshot_20210915-150047_Chrome.jpg

During his absolute peak as an ODI batsman, he was the second most impactful batsmen and that was only because Viv was his contemporary. His strike rate is phenomenal for that era and ahead of the likes of Dean Jones who is considered an ODI great and when ODI strike rates were in the 70's and late 60's.

The Salim Malik most of us watched (90's ) was a plodder who could not up the scoring rate at will.

Was Salim Malik really that aggressive a batsman as his stats indicate and then decline afterwards or is there something I'm missing ?

Thoughts?
 
View attachment 111791

During his absolute peak as an ODI batsman, he was the second most impactful batsmen and that was only because Viv was his contemporary. His strike rate is phenomenal for that era and ahead of the likes of Dean Jones who is considered an ODI great and when ODI strike rates were in the 70's and late 60's.

The Salim Malik most of us watched (90's ) was a plodder who could not up the scoring rate at will.

Was Salim Malik really that aggressive a batsman as his stats indicate and then decline afterwards or is there something I'm missing ?

Thoughts?


My brother was a huge cricket fan and also a collector of cricket magazines. Back in the days, there were three major cricketing magazines in Pakistan (could be more but that's the three he collected).

1. Akhbar-e-watan
2. Cricketer Urdu
3. Cricketer English

These magazines were in many ways the sole source of cricketing information as tv broadcast of matches other than your country was almost unheard of. These magazines had some of the best sportswriters who would actually travel the world chasing cricket and wrote match reports almost like stories that made the readers feel as if they were there in that exact moment.

When Pakistan beat India in 87' in the Bangalore Test, the headline for the match report in one of the magazines was, "waqt aur halaat ki qaid say azaad moajzay" (space & time-defying miracles). A series between England and New Zealand was dubbed as "a yawn of series" as at that time both the teams were bang average and even the fans of the country had no interest in a test series that ended with all draws on dour pitches played by cricketers with no flair (as compared to the West Indies juggernaut).

Point of this though, every other magazine during that era had a couple of things common, a poster of Imran Khan on the central page - magazines used to have a dual side poster on art paper in the middle binding page that you could actually remove and post on your wall - and a complimentary piece about the aggression of a young fearless mustached but rotund Salim Malik.

When I grew up to the age of reading and watching cricket, and got hold of that stash, I never believed that this was the same Salim Malik that those writers raved about so heavily. All I'd see was someone who'd come to the crease and look confused and shady as hell. His bowling looked similar to the bowling of my uncle who'd just hang out with us for a few balls every evening and each ball would be so slow that facing him almost felt like time has come to standstill.

My brother would often say that it was the magic of Imran, he made average cricketers become better than the sum of their parts and made them into world-beaters. Ijaz Ahmed, Salim Malik, Rameez Raja, and a few others were all players who looked better under Imran than after him.

I don't believe in such simplistic explanations, for I feel that while the rest of the world invested in better structures and improved their cricket we got stuck in the '90s and never really moved forward. That's why our players are now inferior to players of other cricketing nations because they have poor techniques and it shows. It also had an impact on our players of that era, while they dominated or played really well against teams in the 80s' when they started improving and with the emergence of South Africa, our players were caught off-guard. We had Akram who was world-class beyond doubt, but Waqar was only good for a few years during that period and everyone else was hit and miss and that's why we were never consistent as a team.

I'm not going to delve into match-fixing but I also think that played a heavy role in the underperformance of Salim and a few other players. Maybe in another timeline, if these players continued to work professionally and didn't get involved in shady practices, they'd remain world-class till the end of their careers.

For now, all I wish for is to find those magazines again and live that part of my life that made me fall in love with cricket. Sigh.
 
Salim Malik's weird ODI career transformation.

From 1984 to 1990, Salim Malik was an amazing futuristic ODI batsman in a floater 3-6 role with 3406 runs in 125 games with an average of 33.3 and SR of 85.7. Until that point in ODI history out of the rare amount of players with a SR of 85+ over 50+ ODIs, only Viv had a better average than him and Viv was a huge aberration. Nobody was even close. He was on his way to becoming an ATG player and was arguably one of the top 5 or so ODI batsmen till then.

He got into the team properly in 1984 and from 1984 to 1990, he had a SR of 80+ in 6/7 of the years.

Between 1987 and 1990, he had an average of 39 with a SR of 87. The only other batsmen who had a SR of 80+ at the time were Viv, Aravinda and Kapil all of whom averaged a decent amount lower than Malik. He was arguably the best ODI batsman in the world in that small era after Viv's decline though Jones might have been better due to piling on a huge amount of runs at a low SR.

However, suddenly, without any warning of regression or any progression he became a bang average mid-60s SR player almost overnight for the next entire decade. His SR went from 86 in the 80s to 69 in the 90s even though his average was the same.

His SR over the years from 1988 to 1990 was 89,93,84
His SR over the years from 1992 to 1995 was 67,63,66

I don't think I have seen any other player change his batting style so radically overnight and have SR 20 lower randomly while still maintaining same average runs scored.

What the :afridi happened here?

Discuss.
 
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Brilliant analysis buddy.

I only watched Malik of the 90s. There was an element of art in the way he would give himself room and slap the spinners. His bowling was also so gentle and pleasing.

Very underrated player who would have achieved a lot more had he remained clean.
 
The way he neutralized a peak Warne in 1994 was a thing of beauty. Was a fantastic player of spin bowling in his prime.
 
Salim Malik’s strokeplay was beautiful to watch. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the versatility of off-side shots that Malik had than anyone else.

Interesting stats above about his strike rate. I don’t think there was anything suss about it at all, age just caught up to him post 95. There was a massive difference between pre-95 and post-95 Salim Malik. Post-95 he just couldn’t time the ball like he used to.

He was the original Warne destroyer, but 3 of his best innings were non centuries at headingley on seriously seaming tracks - 99 in 1987 and 82 and 84 not out in 1992.

I also loved his response when interviewed about the bouncer rule being introduced in 1991. While England had this cowardly stance on the bouncer rule, Salim when asked gave a simple answer “I don’t care how many bouncers I get in an over”. He was raised in an era of “hard men” batsmen, not the little softies from the 90s onwards.
 
Pakistan seek ICC help over Malik life ban challenge

Pakistan officials have asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) for advice following former captain Salim Malik's plea to have his 2000 life ban for match-fixing removed.

The Pakistan Cricket Board wrote to the ICC after Malik approached PCB chairman Najam Sethi in April claiming that a lower sessions court had declared the suspension illegal in 2008.

The 51-year-old argued in his meeting with Sethi that the board should clarify the position with the ICC.

"We have written to the ICC asking for their guidance and advice on the Salim Malik life ban," a senior PCB official told Reuters.

"We have asked the ICC to look into the documents provided by Malik and provide us with guidance on what can be done in his case."

The Pakistani, who played in 103 tests and 283 one-day internationals, was the first player to be banned for life for match-fixing after being found guilty of bribing Australian cricketers Shane Warne and Mark Waugh to lose the 1994-95 Karachi test.

Malik told Reuters he was delighted to learn about the action being taken by the PCB.

"I served Pakistan cricket for 19 years and nobody can return the 14 years of torture I have been through. I just want the board and ICC to review the court order," he said.

"I want to be vindicated in my stand that I am innocent and I want to serve Pakistan cricket in some capacity."

SOURCE: https://www.reuters.com/article/spo...-over-malik-life-ban-challenge-idUSKBN0FD25X/
 
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