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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.

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T20 World Cup | Clinical Pakistan breeze past Scotland, enter semis as the only unbeaten side

It was all hunky-dory for Pakistan as they nailed an expected victory against Scotland on Sunday night at Sharjah. They won their last game of the Super 12 to end up as the only unbeaten side in this edition of the T20 World Cup. They would now enter the semi-finals having won all their games and face Australia in the second semis at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on November 11. Chasing a target of 190 was never going to be easy for the Scots. The challenge for them never looked like chasing 190, it was always about showing better application with the bat against one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament. But they failed to do that and apart from Richie Berrington, who scored his first fifty in this edition of the World Cup, and to an extent George Munsey, no other batter was able to stay there for long. At the end of the 20 overs, the team in purple could only reach 117 with Berrington remaining unbeaten on 54 off 37 balls. They lost the game by a huge margin of 72 runs. For Pakistan, Shadab Khan picked two wickets while Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali and Shaheen Afridi picked one each. Earlier in the evening, after winning the toss, Pakistan decided to bat first - making it twice in a row that they chose to take up the challenge of batting without the dew factor. The reasoning behind the decision making was to test themselves in situations that would be unfavourable to them and would have to set a total for the opposition team who would be batting in far better conditions. The opening partnership was once again steady as usual, but Pakistan were once again slow to get off the rails. They were 35 for no loss at the end of the powerplay with Mohammad Rizwan batting at 15 off 18 balls and captain Babar Azam striking almost at 100 SR with 17 off 18 balls to his name. The Pakistan keeper, who has been having a stellar tournament got out on the first ball outside the powerplay but that did not halt the scoring rate of the team. Babar Azam continued his good run and hit the fourth fifty in his fifth game of the tournament, a record held only by three players in the world. But it was the innings of Shoaib Malik that changed the course of the game as he hit an 18-ball fifty, the fastest for any Pakistani in T20I cricket. Thanks to his fifty, Pakistan scored 65 in the last four overs to reach 189 in their 20 overs. Scotland remained winless in the Super 12 stage even though they won three out of three in the first round of the tournament to make it to the Super 12. Speaking at the post-match presentation, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam was confident about his team’s chances in the semi-final at Dubai against Australia. He said, “We have confidence and belief in the team-mates. We are playing as a team and hence playing consistent cricket. We would want to continue with the same momentum.” On other hand, Kyle Coetzer, the Scottish skipper was happy to have been able to inspire a few people back home to pick the game and make the country progress even more. “It's a huge occasion for an associate team to play in the World Cup. Hope we have inspired a few people. There is plenty of room for growth and I am sure these guys have learnt a lot,” he said.