Aamer Sohail backs the inclusion of Shoaib Malik in the national team – Cricket News Update
The former Pakistan captain, Aamer Sohail feels that Misbah ul Haq has made the correct decision by bringing back Shoaib Malik to the limited-overs squad, even though he has been miserably out of form since the last four months.
The Pakistani spinners bamboozled the English batsmen throughout the Test series, and it is likely that Pakistan will look to spin to trouble Alastair Cook and the much changed English side in the One Day International series once again.
The Pakistan Cricket Board did not include Shoaib Malik in the initial ODI or the T20 squad, but was later brought into the team at the request of Misbah Ul Haq.
Malik did not play any international cricket for about a year between 2010 and mid-2011, as the integrity committee of the PCB had not given him a carte blanche, following the spot-fixing controversy. As soon as he got the clearance, he was included in the
team for the tour of Zimbabwe, where he failed to impress at the opportunities he was afforded.
While speaking to pakpassion, Sohail expressed that Malik has been a match-winner for Pakistan over the years and he has the ability to find his form back at any stage of the series.
Aamer said, “If Malik is given the right opportunities, he may well score runs and perform well. Misbah-ul-Haq has made the decision and presently it’s a case of waiting and seeing if it is a successful one that works for him - bringing Shoaib Malik back
could be an astute move by Misbah.”
The former left handed opening batsman also added that Pakistan has the option of changing their batting order by promoting the likes of Malik and Umar Akmal, as both of them have the ability to score runs quickly.
“There has also been a lot of discussion about the potential batting order of the Pakistani team, but I don’t have any issues with it. The argument can be made for more attacking players like Shoaib Malik or Umar Akmal being pushed up the order,” former
captain added.