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Untitled Document
 Pak team not affected by Shoaib ban: Malik
5th Apr 2008 13:01 IST
Agencies
Pakistani captain Shoaib Malik said his team was neither affected nor distracted by the controversial ban on Shoaib Akhtar and maintained that the players were concentrating on their performance ahead of the ODI series against Bangladesh.
"It is something between the Board and a player. We are professional players and we are supposed to concentrate on our jobs which is playing cricket and doing well for our country," Malik said in an interview.
Malik said Shoaib's incident had not dampened the morale and spirit of the team and they were working hard towards the Bangladesh rubber.
"The ongoing national one-day tournament has helped us get in shape for the coming series and we are going to have a short camp before the first match on Tuesday. We are looking forward to the series and are keen to do well in it," he added.
Malik said Pakistan had enough talent to do well in the series and the target would be to win all the matches.
"We are not going to underestimate the Bangladesh side as they are a good one-day squad who have caused many upsets in the past. You can't take them lightly," he stated.
Malik said Australia not coming to Pakistan was now history and the players were now concentrating on the Bangladesh series.
"What has happened has happened is history now. But I am happy that we are at least getting a chance to play some international cricket," Malik stated.
He said the return of pacer Umar Gul after a layoff due to injury would reinforce the bowling attack.
"We will not experiment much in the series because we want to give the younger players who debuted against Zimbabwe a chance to cement their places. It will be a good series for them as they will gain in confidence and exposure."
The Pakistan skipper also hit back at his critics who had questioned his absence from the Pentangular Cup and the national one-day competition.
"My mother is still very ill and she is my first priority. I did go to Mumbai for four days for some work. But in both cases I had taken permission from the Cricket Board so nobody should say I committed any indiscipline," he said. |
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