Former Pakistan captain and current all-rounder, Shoaib Malik, has said that he is working really hard to improve his bowling as it could prove to be handy for Pakistan in limited overs cricket in the future.
Malik was out of the national team for almost a year as he was unable to get his name cleared from the match-fixing controversy. However, he got cleared by the integrity committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board recently and was included in the team.
The all-rounder has been an influential cricketer for Pakistan over the years, especially in limited overs cricket. He has played a number of match-winning knocks for Pakistan, and at times, he has been very useful with his off-spin.
Mohammad Hafeez is another batsman in the national team, who can turn his arm over in an effective manner. Malik feels that if both of them play together, they will prove to be great assets for the Green Shirts and the Pakistan team would be able to play an extra batsman.
“The fact is, if Hafeez and I play together as all-rounders we can even play with one less regular bowler and provide that option to the selectors. I have worked hard on this and am hoping that both my batting and bowling will be good,” said Malik.
The former Pakistan captain recently led his domestic team, Sialkot Stallions, to the sixth title victory in the Faysal Bank T20 Tournament 2011, at the National Stadium Karachi. Malik looked in brilliant touch throughout the tournament and turned out to be the difference between the Stallions and the other teams.
Malik claimed that he has dismissed almost all the top players of the world and said that when he goes out to bat, he considers himself a regular batsman, and when he has the ball in his hand, the all-rounder thinks like a bowler.
He added, “As you know, there aren’t too many players in international cricket that I haven’t dismissed. I have almost 150 wickets in the limited over formats. So I am hoping that when I bat, I bat like a regular batsman and when I bowl, I bowl like a regular bowler.”
