T20 World Cup | ‘Self-obsession’ keeps old horse Shoaib Malik going for Pakistan

Shoaib Malik was not included in the first squad picked by Pakistan for the T20 World Cup, currently underway in the UAE. He found himself back in the scheme of things after personnel change in the team management and was scheduled to play his 7th T20 world tournament.

His place was always contentious as he has been an underachiever for Pakistan and there were words that the Pakistan selectors are doing injustice to young players by keeping on calling Malik and others such as Mohammad Hafeez.

Malik was not in great form with the bat in the Caribbean Premier League either when he was selected for the T20 World Cup and hence his selection came under stern criticism from fans and many Pakistani media persons. He was there in the last ODI World Cup in England and the last edition of the T20 World Cup in 2016 as well, but his failures with the bat never settled him in the Pakistan side.

However, he has been the engine room for the men in green so far in the tournament. He was ballistic with the bat in the last game against Scotland and scored the fastest half century by a Pakistan batsman in just 18 balls, surpassing Umar Akmal who had taken 22 balls to get to fifty.

Discussing his innings and hunger to keep on playing for decades, Malik said that the “self-obsession” of remaining fit while he talks to himself and sees himself in the mirror has been the crucial factor behind his continued success at the world level. 

The game against Scotland was Malik’s 121st appearance in the international T20 games and he is one of the most-experienced players across the world. He said that he is not sure of continuing playing for Pakistan in the near future but he is not bothered about his future beyond this World Cup and is thinking solely about winning this tournament.

"...Well, to be honest, I would say I have self-obsession of seeing myself fit when I look at it in the mirror, and most importantly I'm still enjoying playing cricket, and it's helping, as well, end of the day towards the team," Malik said at the post-match press conference.

"I guess if you want to stay fit, then you've got to train every day, and that's what I have been doing. I'm not sure about playing a year more or two more years. Right now, I'm in [the] middle of a very important thing and not thinking about all that."

Pakistan have been the only side that have advanced to the semi-finals stage without suffering any defeat and they will meet Australia in the big game to seek a place in the final. Malik conceded that the clash against Australia would be a “tough challenge” while also maintaining that the Pakistan side won’t carry any unnecessary pressure on their shoulders and instead will try their best to play it as just “another game”.

"Of course we have seen Australia, the way they have been playing. They have been playing really good cricket. So are we. But of course it's going to be a tough challenge for both the teams," said Malik.

"It's another game, then I guess the other batters have made plans, execute and just take it as another game. we have a few days in between before the semis, so I'm sure management will sit, our team is going to sit and they'll definitely talk about and they'll make plans, as well, for the semis," he said.

Malik’s success with the bat gives Pakistan batting another dimension of depth which could come in handy in big games such as the semi-final against Australia. They have their openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan in red-hot form and having Malik in good touch lower down the order will boost the top order’s confidence to play aggressive cricket. This could well be the point of difference between a par score and winning total in the key phase of the tournament.