"Would like to see Babar Azam scoring big runs in Test cricket, he's our great hope" : Shoaib Malik

[MenInG]

"Would like to see Babar Azam scoring big runs in Test cricket, he's our great hope" : Shoaib Malik

Shoaib Malik speaking after end of 1st ODI

"They were bowling pretty well in middle overs but in mind the key was to rotate the strike"

"Credit goes to Babar Azam and to Hafeez especially the way he batted with confidence"

"The senior player's experience comes in situations when you are down"

" I didn't take pressure but the goal was to rotate strike and then get few boundaries and that made a difference to our total"

"The partnership with Babar was important but Mohammad Hafeez's innings before mine, set the tone for the rest of the innings"

"The SL team practiced last night after us and probably took the dew factor into account and also in my view their batting was strong which is why they chose to field first which is not usually what we do in the UAE"

"Yes it does seem strange that I left Test cricket after such good performances but in my view, you serve not only by playing but also by giving others chances to play as well"

"The youngsters who came into the team due to my retirement are those who can play for 10-12 years more which I cannot"

"A good pace attack helps in ODIs especially when you have 5 fielders in the circle in the 40th over"

"If you have good bowlers you can contain any good batsmen because the key in this format is to take wickets"

"Thats what we are doing and that's why we have seen so much success in our cricket"

"Especially as you saw in the CT, we had bowlers who were taking wickets in middle-overs and that is why we could beat top-class teams"

"If you consistently give chances to players, you will obviously see positive results"

"We played our best unit against SL in Tests and they need to be given more chances"

On Babar Azam "I would like to see him scoring big runs in Test cricket also"

"He has been working hard and he is our great hope"

"The way he has been going so far, I think he is an exceptional talent and he is improving day by day"

 

[MenInG]

Absolutely nailed it Malik - Walked in with a plan and executed it to perfection

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

This guy has been phenomenal since his comeback in 2015 with phenomenal stats. How can some people still hate him?

 

[ExpressPacer]

My favourite player in the team. In the form of his life. Getting married to Sania has changed his life.

 

[Yaasir]

Absolutely brilliant innings today. Showed Babar Azam how it's done who was batting at snails pace.

 

[mak36]

Shehzad obviously didn't get the memo.

Shoaib batted beautifully today.

 

[Abdullah719]

More quotes added to OP.

 

[Mueez]

A very good and a versatile player.
AWESOME with the bat
AWESOME with the ball

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

I have started to like him as he has become a very selfless player in last few years and a great guide to youngsters.

Was listening to Malik in a recent interview where he said that being out of team from 2012-2015 and being away from home (playing leagues etc) taught him valuable things.

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Yes SL missed a trick but winning the toss and fielding first. Like the tests they should have batted first.

On another note, this is 3rd straight Sarfaraz has lost against SL. Needs to practice throwing coins in his favor.

 

[KyoOne]

Babar does not have the temperament to be a test player, nor can he handle decent spin.

Anyways, soft runs at snail's pace may win us games against lower ranked sides

 

[austerlitz]

To be honest i think babar azam has a good technique,much better than most pakistani batsmen.They should play him in tests and eventually he will learn.I think he is better than haris sohail technique wise but not in footwork.If azam can improve his footwork he will be much better player.

 

[MenInG]

Shoaib Malik has spent his entire career living in the shadow of Pakistani stalwarts. First it was Inzamam-ul Haq and Mohammed Yousuf who towered above him. Then came Younis Khan and Misbah-ul Haq - the former with his sheer weight of runs and latter with his leadership skills became the symbols of recent Pakistan teams.

Malik, despite his impressive career in one-day cricket, has never been in the forefront of any Pakistan teams in the past 15 years.

But now the 35-year-old player finds himself in a position from which he can really look forward to ending his career with a flourish.

He has kept himself unbelievably fit and his 61-ball 81 against Sri Lanka in the first ODI on Friday proved that the former Pakistan captain is now ready to play the role of the elder statesman in the team.

Performances like that have made him believe that he can continue to guide the young Pakistan team with his experience until the 2019 World Cup.

"I know many people found it odd when I quit Test cricket two years ago despite scoring a double century. I made almost 300 runs and took 11 wickets in that series and I retired," Malik said after being named man-of-the-match for his 40th half-century in one-day cricket.

"I took the decision because I thought I could serve the country not just by playing but also by giving chances to youngsters. Our Test team then was well settled so I thought if youngsters like Babar Azam and Harris Sohail got a chance they could play Test cricket for 10-12 years. I knew I would not be able to do that so I decided to focus on the shorter version.

"So my aim is to continue playing limited overs cricket until the 2019 World Cup. But yes, I have to keep giving consistent performances for my team if I want to reach the World Cup."


Middle-order heroics

With Pakistan looking for some inspiration at 128/3 in 28 overs against a hard-working Lankan attack on Friday, Malik walked in and turned around their fortunes with a majestic display of stroke-play and agile running between the wickets.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed will definitely hope for more such performances in the middle-order from Malik.

"I always try to play according to the situation. It's important to do what the team needs from you at a particular stage in a match. My partnership with Babar Azam was very crucial," Malik said.

Another big strength of the Champions Trophy winners is their fast bowlers' ability to take wickets with the white ball. Hasan Ali (3/36) and Rumman Raees (3/49) made sure Pakistan didn't miss the injured Mohammed Amir on Friday.

"To have a good bowling attack is very important in this format of the game because you have five fielders inside the circle till the 40th over. If you have good bowlers, you can contain any team, any good batsmen. And that's what we are doing," Malik said.

"In the Champions Trophy we had bowlers who kept taking wickets in the middle overs and that's why we contained batsmen and beat world class teams."

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/i-want-to-play-in-the-2019-world-cup-says-35-year-old-shoaib-malik

 

[waleed88]

Malik was the main reason we reached 292 after the slowest ODI century innings by a Pakistani in 5 years left us no hope

 

[MenInG]

Malik was the main reason we reached 292 after the slowest ODI century innings by a Pakistani in 5 years left us no hope

That ODI century was the reason you had 292 - paradoxically speaking.

 

[Black Zero]

That ODI century was the reason you had 292 - paradoxically speaking.

Otherwise there was always a "danger" of us crossing 320.

 

[MenInG]

Otherwise there was always a "danger" of us crossing 320.

Why is it so difficult to understand that without the basis that Babar provided us, there was no 292 or 320 etc? Malik made use of that basis.

 

[waleed88]

That ODI century was the reason you had 292 - paradoxically speaking.

If he did he would be carrying on after his 100, rather than slowing down before it and getting out right after reaching it

 

[pakistanigoneaussie]

This guy has been phenomenal since his comeback in 2015 with phenomenal stats. How can some people still hate him?

not about hating him, he is quite likeable and one of the few seniors in Pak cricket who doesnt like entitled fool.

However he went missing in the Champions trophy, he was unfortunate in some games but he still should have scored more.

Now looking ahead to the 2019 WC is it worth spending all this on Malik and Professor ?

Ideally id want both out, if i had to pick one then Malik all the way, but critisim is warranted IMO

 

[waleed88]

We were 200 in almost 39-40 overs, Malik provided impetus after that while Babar played for his 100

 

[todfod 11]

Otherwise there was always a "danger" of us crossing 320.

We were 200 in almost 39-40 overs, Malik provided impetus after that while Babar played for his 100

Would take a century over a quick 30 40 any day.

 

[JibranAnsari]

Babars innings was not good but we were playing srilanka who hasnt done much in odi cricket recently but babars innings of 100 off 109 while chasing 370 againdt australia was absolute trash. Yes centuries are good and they look your stats look awesome but babar also needs to check his scoring rate when the team requires to score him at a higher rate. You can not always expect malik or imad to come and bash a few in the end.

 

[waleed88]

Would take a century over a quick 30 40 any day.

If Babar got out early, Malik would've probably reached a 100 in quicker time as he was only 19 runs short of it anyway, and that would've probably given more of the batsmen in the lower order to take charge and take it beyond a 100

 

[todfod 11]

If Babar got out early, Malik would've probably reached a 100 in quicker time as he was only 19 runs short of it anyway, and that would've probably given more of the batsmen in the lower order to take charge and take it beyond a 100

If and buts doesnt make sense in real world.. If only fakhar and Ahmed have made 100 each then story would have been different... What about pak cricket fav child shehzad would have scored with a strike rate of 150 story woyld hae different right.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Malik should be a role model for Umar Akmal.

 

[Hermoine Green]

Babar will flourish in Test.

 

[Deewana]

Babar Azam Support Thread

All the Supporters of Babar Azam aka Super Barbie gather here and show your support for our best batting talent since Mohammed Yousuf

 

[another drop catch]

Babar will thrash this lankan side once again

 

[another drop catch]

easily best pakistani batsman of this generation
or second best after fakhar zaman ? ? ?
or third best after fakhar and sharjeel ? ? ? ? ?

 

[Hermoine Green]

Present. Let me start with this..

 

[Mamoon]

Who doesn't support him? He just needs to lower his dot ball percentage and bat at a better SR in the first half of his innings. Apart from that, he has been outstanding.

 

[kingusama92]

Who doesn't support him? He just needs to lower his dot ball percentage and bat at a better SR in the first half of his innings. Apart from that, he has been outstanding.

Waleed88.



Nothing wrong with constructive criticism.

Let's hope he continues to progress into a world-class batsman.

 

[cr7great]

we will see his peak when he will be 26
when he will dominate bowling single handly

 

[Abdullah]

Needs to keep going and bat until the end. 230 is enough here

 

[IAJ]

Class player, since he was 14-15 years old, when I watched him first time.

 

[IAJ]

Quickest to 1000 runs batting at 3, above Sir Viv, Gower, Root you name it

 

[Bilal7]

Will end up matching Amla and Kohli in LOIs. Seriously good ODI batsman. He also has a heads up on the other two since he's already played a crucial innings in a ICC ODI tournament final.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Quickest to 1000 runs batting at 3, above Sir Viv, Gower, Root you name it

Yasir hameed was fairly quick to 1000 ODI runs, lets get some perspective here and not get to carried away early on.

 

[Amjid Javed]

That ODI century was the reason you had 292 - paradoxically speaking.

Malik got man of match so clearly adjudicators so main reason we won and got to such a total.. without maliks hitting we would have plodded along to 250 with babar batting so slowly.