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- Oct 2, 2004
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Shoaib Malik speaking to the press:
To be honest even though I don’t play Test cricket, I have seen that right after Asia Cup all our cricketers who play all 3 formats have been travelling constantly
First, they played Australia, New Zealand then they went to South Africa; right after the SA tour they played PSL and some of them have gone back to their families and you still don’t think they need rest?
Even the home series we play here in UAE, away from our families so I think they deserve a lot of rest
There are a many players in the Australian team who are good cricketers as they have performed well; There is isn’t one particular player we are scared of in the Australia side
I don’t want to get into what happened in South Africa with the Australians but any side will struggle when two of your key players are not in the side
I am sure they sat down and talked about everything and the Australian team seems to have the same amount of aggression and confidence as they had 2 years ago
To win against India in India is a very big thing and the result of the series tells us that things are way better in the dressing room
Australian teams always play aggressive cricket and to beat them, you have to use the same style against them
Whilst they may not have won many series in the recent past, I consider Australia one of the strongest teams in any big cricket event
We have seen that they have won back to back 50-over World Cups, they have everything they need but have lacked in executions of their plans and consistent chances to their players
We still have 11 games before the World Cup and opportunities are open for everyone, even though Mickey mentioned that 4 slots are available but still if you perform extraordinarily then of course you create a chance for yourself
So, I think opportunities are there but its down to you as to how you grab them
You don’t need to be thinking about the fact that there are 4 slots left for the World Cup squad that is a secondary thing, as your first goal as a professional in whatever opportunity you get, is to give your best shot and try to perform for the team. This has already been said to all the players which is to focus on what’s coming
If you look at both squads, you will note that both sides are well-experienced, and they have done well against India in India and their morale is very high
I am not one of those people who looks for excuses, I think we have enough strength in our dressing room to take on the Australian team and I full backing from my players, even though they are quite young but are highly talented and are confident guys
When you produce pace of 145KpH+ in your bowling, then that becomes a lethal quality to have. He [Hasnain] is a very talented bowler, as we have seen in practice and also in PSL and he is rated very highly. I think his development is a great sign for Pakistan cricket.
If we look back a few years, then it didn’t look as if we would get a bowler who can bowl at 140KpH+ but we have seen in the recently concluded PSL that there are 3-4 such bowler who can bowl at such speeds which is great for Pakistan cricket
We have seen in UAE that when pitches are used a lot they start to take a lot of spin but this is just a 5-match series which will be divided amongst 3 venues so lets see what happens; If we have a good spin attack, then Australia also have a good attack to; Also there isn’t that much difference between conditions in India and in UAE so lets see what comes our way and will do our best
This is a great initiative taken by the PCB to allow our bench strength to show their skills
This is a great opportunity for all players, there are new players in the side also but all have played in domestic cricket; We need to groom this new talent to help teach them how to handle pressure during international games
This is something that the team management putting a lot of effort but this is not an overnight process as it takes time, but the good news is that all of us are helping and teaching the new members of the side
To be honest even though I don’t play Test cricket, I have seen that right after Asia Cup all our cricketers who play all 3 formats have been travelling constantly
First, they played Australia, New Zealand then they went to South Africa; right after the SA tour they played PSL and some of them have gone back to their families and you still don’t think they need rest?
Even the home series we play here in UAE, away from our families so I think they deserve a lot of rest
There are a many players in the Australian team who are good cricketers as they have performed well; There is isn’t one particular player we are scared of in the Australia side
I don’t want to get into what happened in South Africa with the Australians but any side will struggle when two of your key players are not in the side
I am sure they sat down and talked about everything and the Australian team seems to have the same amount of aggression and confidence as they had 2 years ago
To win against India in India is a very big thing and the result of the series tells us that things are way better in the dressing room
Australian teams always play aggressive cricket and to beat them, you have to use the same style against them
Whilst they may not have won many series in the recent past, I consider Australia one of the strongest teams in any big cricket event
We have seen that they have won back to back 50-over World Cups, they have everything they need but have lacked in executions of their plans and consistent chances to their players
We still have 11 games before the World Cup and opportunities are open for everyone, even though Mickey mentioned that 4 slots are available but still if you perform extraordinarily then of course you create a chance for yourself
So, I think opportunities are there but its down to you as to how you grab them
You don’t need to be thinking about the fact that there are 4 slots left for the World Cup squad that is a secondary thing, as your first goal as a professional in whatever opportunity you get, is to give your best shot and try to perform for the team. This has already been said to all the players which is to focus on what’s coming
If you look at both squads, you will note that both sides are well-experienced, and they have done well against India in India and their morale is very high
I am not one of those people who looks for excuses, I think we have enough strength in our dressing room to take on the Australian team and I full backing from my players, even though they are quite young but are highly talented and are confident guys
When you produce pace of 145KpH+ in your bowling, then that becomes a lethal quality to have. He [Hasnain] is a very talented bowler, as we have seen in practice and also in PSL and he is rated very highly. I think his development is a great sign for Pakistan cricket.
If we look back a few years, then it didn’t look as if we would get a bowler who can bowl at 140KpH+ but we have seen in the recently concluded PSL that there are 3-4 such bowler who can bowl at such speeds which is great for Pakistan cricket
We have seen in UAE that when pitches are used a lot they start to take a lot of spin but this is just a 5-match series which will be divided amongst 3 venues so lets see what happens; If we have a good spin attack, then Australia also have a good attack to; Also there isn’t that much difference between conditions in India and in UAE so lets see what comes our way and will do our best
This is a great initiative taken by the PCB to allow our bench strength to show their skills
This is a great opportunity for all players, there are new players in the side also but all have played in domestic cricket; We need to groom this new talent to help teach them how to handle pressure during international games
This is something that the team management putting a lot of effort but this is not an overnight process as it takes time, but the good news is that all of us are helping and teaching the new members of the side
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