Harsh Thakor
First Class Star
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2012
- Runs
- 3,520
- Post of the Week
- 2
I have seen few players on their day who have been as dashing as Salim Malik.In full flow he looked like a galleon in full sail.He could bissect every region of a field with the ease of a baker slicing a cake and when the chips were down revealed the mental resilience of a soldier.
I can never forget the grit and determination Salim Malik revealed when his team faced adversity.He had the capacity to single-handedly turn the course of a game creating the effect of a total reversal of plot in a movie.His face and strokes could tell it all.Who can forget his 72 of 35 balls that won game that looked lost in the 2nd O.D.I. in Kolkata in 1987?He simply clobbered the Indian bowling making them look like cattle fodder with 65 run srequired of 1 overs and steered his team home to famous win.At leeds in 1987 in a winning cause when scoring 99 a nd in a losing cause scoring a century in 99 Malik resembled a surgeon tackling a patient considered incurable successfully.When every other good batsmen was struggling he displayed great sense of judgement and precision in negotiating the moving ball in overcast conditions.He blended the courage of a soldier with the skill of an architect.In 1992 he topped the batting averages in test matches in England averaging 81.66 and also topped the averages in the home series v West Indies in 1991.Batted like a champion in winning causes v England in the 1987 Reliance Cup and 1991 Nehru Cup and was also at his dazzling best in a home series v Australia in 1994 where he amassed a record aggregate of 557 runs.His epic 237 at Lahore and century at Faisalabad ressurected Pakistan from the grave to save the tests and win the series by a 1-0 margin.Few batsmen have blended determination,concentration and artistry ever as Salim Malik did then.In early 1994 in New Zealand his batting played a major role in his side's series victory.
In England his overall average in 3 full test tours in 1987,1992 and 1996 was over 60 which is remarkable.Few batsmen negotiated the moving ball better.Above all Pakistan emerged victorious in all those series.Sadly he was hardly prolific in West Indies or Australia.Still one must remember his fifty that revived a sinking ship at Trinidad in 1988 in the 2nd test when Pakistan looked doomed at around 70 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.It enabled Pakistan to gain a slender 19 innings lead in game hat Pakistan came within touching distance of winning.It could rank amongst the finest test fifties ever scored in a crisis.
Sadly his later career got affected by claims of match-fixing and after being convicted he finally got cleared by 2000 in the court.
His away record apart from England was not as impressive as many greats.However at his best he was a class act exhibiting strokeplay of the highest degree and able to master the worst wickets.In a crisis he was one of Pakistan's best batsmen of all time ,similar to Wasim Raja,Asif Iqbal or Majid Khan.I think when the chips were down he was better payer in tests than Zaheer Abbas.For some time in the mid 1990's Salim Malik would make my world test xi.In that period few batsmen so proportionately blended durability,artistry and determination.In the most precarious situtations Malik was an epitome of combat,determination personified.He would have joined Gooch,Mark Taylor Lara,Tendulkar,Mark Waugh etc.It may have been a photo finish between Malik and one of the Waugh brothers.In 1992 and 1994 I would have given him the benefit of the doubt over Border,Inzamam or one of the Waugh brothers,in selection for a world test xi.
I can never forget the grit and determination Salim Malik revealed when his team faced adversity.He had the capacity to single-handedly turn the course of a game creating the effect of a total reversal of plot in a movie.His face and strokes could tell it all.Who can forget his 72 of 35 balls that won game that looked lost in the 2nd O.D.I. in Kolkata in 1987?He simply clobbered the Indian bowling making them look like cattle fodder with 65 run srequired of 1 overs and steered his team home to famous win.At leeds in 1987 in a winning cause when scoring 99 a nd in a losing cause scoring a century in 99 Malik resembled a surgeon tackling a patient considered incurable successfully.When every other good batsmen was struggling he displayed great sense of judgement and precision in negotiating the moving ball in overcast conditions.He blended the courage of a soldier with the skill of an architect.In 1992 he topped the batting averages in test matches in England averaging 81.66 and also topped the averages in the home series v West Indies in 1991.Batted like a champion in winning causes v England in the 1987 Reliance Cup and 1991 Nehru Cup and was also at his dazzling best in a home series v Australia in 1994 where he amassed a record aggregate of 557 runs.His epic 237 at Lahore and century at Faisalabad ressurected Pakistan from the grave to save the tests and win the series by a 1-0 margin.Few batsmen have blended determination,concentration and artistry ever as Salim Malik did then.In early 1994 in New Zealand his batting played a major role in his side's series victory.
In England his overall average in 3 full test tours in 1987,1992 and 1996 was over 60 which is remarkable.Few batsmen negotiated the moving ball better.Above all Pakistan emerged victorious in all those series.Sadly he was hardly prolific in West Indies or Australia.Still one must remember his fifty that revived a sinking ship at Trinidad in 1988 in the 2nd test when Pakistan looked doomed at around 70 runs for the loss of 7 wickets.It enabled Pakistan to gain a slender 19 innings lead in game hat Pakistan came within touching distance of winning.It could rank amongst the finest test fifties ever scored in a crisis.
Sadly his later career got affected by claims of match-fixing and after being convicted he finally got cleared by 2000 in the court.
His away record apart from England was not as impressive as many greats.However at his best he was a class act exhibiting strokeplay of the highest degree and able to master the worst wickets.In a crisis he was one of Pakistan's best batsmen of all time ,similar to Wasim Raja,Asif Iqbal or Majid Khan.I think when the chips were down he was better payer in tests than Zaheer Abbas.For some time in the mid 1990's Salim Malik would make my world test xi.In that period few batsmen so proportionately blended durability,artistry and determination.In the most precarious situtations Malik was an epitome of combat,determination personified.He would have joined Gooch,Mark Taylor Lara,Tendulkar,Mark Waugh etc.It may have been a photo finish between Malik and one of the Waugh brothers.In 1992 and 1994 I would have given him the benefit of the doubt over Border,Inzamam or one of the Waugh brothers,in selection for a world test xi.
