I am passing through most difficult phase, says Malik

Former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik admits that he is passing through the most difficult time of his career but hopes good times will come again. Malik, 28, has not been selected in a 15-man Pakistan squad for the forthcoming World Cup to be played from next month in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In an exclusive interview with German Radio Deutsche Welle Urdu service here, Malik said that playing World Cup was the utmost desire of any athlete in the world. “And it becomes more disappointing when one is ignored when one is in the best form of his life. I have never been in form like this before in 11 years of my international career the way I played in the recently concluded Quaid Trophy,” he added.

Malik was the second top scorer of Quaid Trophy with 799 runs in only 6 matches. “Cricket is my passion. I thought I could have won this World Cup for Pakistan and that is why it is very difficult to make myself understand. But then its not the end of the world and cricket too. I will not leave playing cricket and try to cash in other opportunities come my way by playing domestic cricket and events outside the country.”

Malik said during this most difficult phase his wife and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza had been very supportive. “Sania being herself as a sports woman knows how to face this kind of situation. She had been through some ups and down as well. I am very lucky to have Sania as my wife who is sporting and helping me at every step to handle all this.”
Malik denied media reports that indicated that an amount of £90,000, which was transferred from India to his British account, was the main reason behind the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to sideline him from the World Cup squad. “I have not hidden any thing from the PCB integrity committee. Like in Pakistan you cant approach any body’s bank account abroad. But I gave every detail of my Pakistani and foreign assets and bank accounts to the PCB but yet I was not selected. I wont start firing at any one because its not my nature and I always try to remain away from controversies.”

Malik is considered as a ODI and Twenty20 specialist because his Test match record has never been that impressive as other two versions of the game. In 32 Tests, Malik has scored only 1606 at 33 and claimed only 21 wickets while in 192 ODIs he has made over 5188 runs and grabbed 134 wickets as well. Despite this, Malik has no intention to quit Test cricket like England’s Paul Collingwood and New Zealand’s Jacob Oram. “I know my Test performance level is not as high but I am not that sort of guy who thinks that I cant do this or that. I have worked very hard on few issues of my game and that worked really well in Quad Trophy. And I want to play all three versions of the game for the next seven to eight years.

On the Pakistan team’s prospects in the World Cup, Malik suggested that Pakistan should rely on senior players. “In an mega event like World Cup only seniors can take pressure of the situations and that’s why I think Pakistan should be relying on experienced players,” Malik concluded.

SHAHID AFRIDI SAYS NO TIME FOR EXPERIMENTS

Captain of the Pakistan cricket team for limited overs, Shahid Afridi said that there will be no time for experiments in the team for the One Day Internationals against New Zealand which will be starting from 22January, 2011.

Afridi stated that his team will mould into the 50-over format very quickly and do well just as they did in the Test series.

The World Cup will kick off from February 2011 in the subcontinent and the Pakistani team is committed to do well in the mega event by preparing themselves through the six-match ODI series in New Zealand.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had announced the Test and Twenty20 team for the New Zealand series but did not announce the ODI squad and captain until recently.

This raised plenty of questions in the country and many former players and cricket experts criticised the decision by PCB. The Board has also taken another controversial step as the name of the World Cup captain has not been announced yet despite announcing the 15-member squad for the mega event.

The head coach of Pakistan cricket team Waqar Younis was also not pleased with the Board for the delay in naming the captain and said that the decision would only raise more issues. The PCB was not happy with Waqar’s comments and issued him a show-cause notice.

It is rumoured that the PCB might announce the name of the World Cup captain after the series against the Kiwis. Test captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who led Pakistan to a series win after four years, is a likely candidate to lead the side in the mega event starting from February.

Many former players including the legendary all-rounder Wasim Akram backed Afridi to lead the team in the World Cup but there are some doubts over his performance.

Earlier, the flamboyant all-rounder claimed that he will keep on representing his team as a senior member even if the Board decides to sack him from the leadership role.

PCB yet to receive any call from Zulqarnain: sources

 Even as Zulqarnain Haider claimedthat he had run out of cash, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)said it has not received any call from the refugeewicketkeeper presently seeking asylum in London.An official source in the board said that since thefact-finding committee of the board compiled its report, theirhad been no contact at all with Zulqarnain.

"The last time he spoke to the board was when thecommittee was preparing its report, since then he has made noeffort to contact us," the source said.

Zulqarnain left the team hotel in Dubai in Novemberduring the one-day series against South Africa withoutinforming the team management, claiming that he was threatenedby a person who wanted him to fix matches.

The wicketkeeper has been given temporary permit toremain in London while his application is being reviewed.

On Wednesday Zulqarnain claimed that he had run out ofcash and was waiting for the board to clear 16000 pounds dueto him for representing the national team, and his contractretainers.

"I have not received any money from the board and now, Iam facing financial problems as I have stayed here andsurvived with the money I had brought from Dubai," he said.

The fact-finding committee failed to reach a conclusionbehind Zulqarnain''s decision to flee to London, and blamed himfor not taking the team officials into confidence, and alsodescribed him as mentally unstable.

The source said that as far as the board was concerned,it was waiting to see what happened to Zulqarnain''s asylumapplication.

"We can''t do anything until he returns to Pakistan, thenwe will decide if we have to take any disciplinary actionagainst him."

"We are not doing anything because we don''t want to makethings difficult for him in London while his application isbeing considered," the source said.

He said obviously no payment could be made to Zulqarnainuntil his case was cleared.

However, another source in the board noted that in aninterview to Sky Sports, Zulqarnain talked about his familyjoining him in London.

"If his wife and children are going to join him thenobviously he is able to support them."

Ijaz Butt flies to NZ for WC captain

Pakistan cricket team seems to have regained the momentum they needed ahead of the ICC World Cup 2011 but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) hasn’t learnt its lesson as they named a captain-less squad for the huge tournament.

Sources told The Sports Encounter on Thursday that chairman PCB, Ijaz Butt has flown down to New Zealand to discuss the matter with the team management after which he would announce the captain for World Cup.

Sources said that Ijaz Butt is not happy with Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis for making statements in the media over the captaincy issue and will have a serious talk with the two during his covert tour.

Pakistan are in New Zealand to play six One-day Internationals against Black Caps starting January 22.

Sources further revealed that Ijaz Butt had strictly ordered the board officials to keep mum on his secret visit as he wanted to silenty tour Down Under to get his mission accomplished.

The main reason behind Ijaz Butt’s tour is to rectify the controversy over captaincy for the ICC World Cup 2011 after taking team management into confidence, sources added.

Sources went on to say that during his visit, the PCB chairman will be meeting Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, and coach Waqar Younis in Wellington after which he will annoucne the name of new skipper.

AFRIDI rare pictures