After the 3-0 drubbing in T20I series against Australia last year, Pakistan decided to make seven changes to their T20I squad for the series against Bangladesh. The side also recalled several veteran cricketers including Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez. Malik, who is 37 years old now, made his debut for Pakistan in 1999 in an ODI agains India. On the other hand, Pakistan current coach Misbah-ul-Haq made his debut for Pakistan in 2007, which means Malik has more international experience than coach.
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At a press conference before the first T20I, Malik was questioned by a journaist whether he would grooming coach Misbah as well.
“Shoaib, you spoke about grooming youngsters in the team, which is a responsibility of a senior player. So, you are even more senior than your coach (Misbah-ul-Haq), will you groom him as well?” asked a reporter.
{{/usCountry}}“Shoaib, you spoke about grooming youngsters in the team, which is a responsibility of a senior player. So, you are even more senior than your coach (Misbah-ul-Haq), will you groom him as well?” asked a reporter.
{{/usCountry}}The questioned prompted a laughter from the Pakistan batsman. In response he said: “There is no one in the world who can say that he has learnt everything. Sachin Tendulkar couldn’t say that or other people couldn’t say that they have learnt anything. Learning process never ends. Lot of cricketers and coaches have come and gone, a lot happened but the learning process never stopped.”
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He added: “We go after people very quickly. We want overnight results, which doesn’t happen. We need to show some patience and if someone has got a chance then we must wait a little. I understand, you guys want some masala, everyone wants masala but we need to think about the country as well sometimes.”
Malik hammered 45-ball 88 in the first T20I to help Pakistan in winning the encounter against Bangladesh and and take 1-0 lead in the series.