Asia Cup: Shoaib Malik wants Pakistan to learn lessons from India for Bangladesh clash

Denzil Pinto 19:38 25/09/2018
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  • Shoaib Malik says his team-mates must step up against Bangladesh

    Shoaib Malik has urged Pakistan to take a leaf from India’s book if they want to keep their Asia Cup hopes alive.

    The Men in Green find themselves under increasing scrutiny when playing India after centuries from Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma condemned them to a nine-wicket thrashing on Sunday night. It was their second successive loss to their arch-rivals after losing by eight wickets four days earlier.

    But Pakistan can still gain revenge by booking their place in the final on Friday if they defeat Bangladesh in Wednesday’s crucial winner-takes-all Super Four clash.

    Their batting unit has come in for strong criticism, with Malik just one of three batsmen to score half-centuries in the tournament.

    The 36-year-old admits there is a crisis of confidence within the camp, but says his team-mates just need to look at how India have played so far in the UAE and match their individual efforts – beginning against Bangladesh.

    “There is no doubt that there is added pressure on you when you play a big match,” said Malik, who has reached fifties in his last two matches.

    “Anyone who says otherwise is lying. If you compare the Pakistan players to Indian players then you will see that they (India) have played a lot more matches.

    “We need to take a cue from the Indian team and the system they have in place to develop players. They are one of the best sides in the world.”

    He added: “Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are world-class players and are in excellent form so credit needs to be given to them.

    “We dropped a couple of important catches (against India) and that is part and parcel of the game. When you are in form, then even the catches are not dropped. However, there is no player in the world, be it a batsman or bowler, who can perform every single time.

    Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan have been India's stand-out players

    Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan have been India’s stand-out players

    “We just need to emulate the way Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been bowling.”

    Despite eliminating Afghanistan with a tense three-run victory to end a two-match losing streak, Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes conceded Pakistan enter the game in Abu Dhabi as strong favourites.

    But Malik disagreed, saying the 2012 runners-up are equally strong. “Being a cricketer, I don’t believe in who is strong and who is underdogs,” Malik added. “If two or three bowlers and batsmen do well, you end up on the right side and win the game.

    “We are not thinking that we have played so much cricket in the UAE. It comes down to whoever is in good form and it’s their responsibility to perform on a consistent basis and help the team.”

    For the Tigers, there is still concern regarding the form of their top-order batsmen with a 128-run sixth-wicket stand between Imrul Kayes (72*) and Mahmudullah (74) saving them against Afghanistan.

    But Rhodes has challenged his players to stick to their strengths.

    “They are a tough team but they could be a bit unpredictable,” said the 54-year-old Englishman.

    “Let’s hope they have an off day and if we play well, we are going to win. But we don’t know which Pakistan is going turn up and that is not in our control. What we can control is what we do and how we play and the objective for our team is to have a good day.”

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