Shoaib Malik on Indian cricket team: “They are the best side in the world”

Shoaib Malik on Indian cricket team: Veteran Pakistani all-rounder suggests that Pakistan should learn from the Indian system.

Pakistan’s nine-wicket defeat against their arch-rivals in India during the third match of the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup had invited a large amount of criticism from their fans and former cricketers.

There is nothing wrong in losing a match and that it is completely acceptable. However, the way Pakistan lost it on the given day raised several questions about their confidence going into the business end of the tournament. During the post-match presentation ceremony, captain Sarfraz Ahmed had pointed the difference in skill set between both the teams.

Apart from losing a couple of matches against India, Pakistan ended up clinching a victory against Afghanistan from the jaws of defeat. Of late, their unpredictable nature and indifferent form have got the better of them in international cricket.

In a recent interview with Times of India, Malik was of the opinion that Pakistan should learn from the Indian cricket circuit. “When you are in a building process, you need time. We have to see India’s system, how they develop their players. They are the best side in the world. You have to give confidence to the players that the management, the captain and selection committee have picked”, said the 36-year old all-rounder.

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur had expressed his feelings after the match against India, saying that the team is rock-bottom in terms of confidence. On being asked about the Pakistani team being down on confidence, Malik again gave reference to the Indian team.

“We need to learn how Bumrah and Bhuvi are bowling. The Indian team has a lot of very experienced players. Our boys can only learn from players who have played so many matches and also from their young players. It’s not like someone with 200 matches cannot learn from those who have played 5-10 matches. They can learn from anyone”, he added.

Malik, who has represented Pakistan in 408 matches across formats, is their senior-most player. With the bat in hand, he has scored 181 runs at an average of 90.50 and a strike rate of 85.78 so far in the Asia Cup. Speaking on the role of senior players in a team, Malik said, “If you have senior players in the team, their duty is not only to perform, but to also be helpful to the juniors and make them confident. Even when we win, there is a duty to help the juniors. If it’s happening, then the team is going in the right direction.”

At the time of writing this article, Pakistan are playing Bangladesh in the last match of the Super Four stage. The winner of this match will face India in the final of the tournament on Friday. Read some of the Twitter reactions before this match below: