Malik determined to avert series defeat
Bureau Report

LAHORE—Pakistan Cricket Captain, Shoaib Malik said his team is fully determined to win the second test against South Africa to secure the series. “We have a chance to salvage our pride by striking a victory and to secure the series and I believe accomplishing this task will be a big achievement on part of my young team “, he told APP here on Sunday.
Shoaib said the task ahead is not easy but the team is fully focused and determined to make the impossible, possible. “ We are in a difficult situation after we loss at Karachi and now we have one chance to get some respect by winning the second test and level the series “,he said.
He said the main difference between the two teams at Karachi was century maker in both the innings Jacques Kallis and his cool batting led the South Africans to victory. “ What happened at Karachi is now a saga of past and we are at the brink of a new challenge and now the most important thing ahead is to do better with a better commitment and professional approach and I think all the players are geared up “, he said.
He said mistakes are a way to learn and to improve further and the blunders made in the Karachi test has helped the players to re-group and to work on overcoming mistakes. “ Test cricket is quite challenging and I would say it is most difficult part of cricket ,it is not fun, it is something different from one day or twenty-20 and players need to show prime form and a resolute effort to bat and bowl with determination “,he said. Malik said as a captain he feels disappointed not to win the first test of his cricket career but expressed the optimism that his team will be winning the second test. “ It is just beginning of my career and I will be learning with the passage of time and with the help of team members we can also show improvement in test cricket the way we proved in Twenty-20 “,he said.
He said Kallis is the batsman who bats with atmost responsibility as most of the South African batsmen demonstrate stroke play. “ He is the main innings builder and he is in good form and we have to stop him from scoring runs “. Shoaib Malik welcomed the inclusion of former captain Inzamam ul Haq and most reliable batsman Muhammad Yousaf in the team and said now the middle order has world two batsmen.
“They are a type of batsmen who can shatter world’s best bowling attack and their presence will be a big advantage for us and I am confident they will be playing encouraging innings to support the team “, he said.
Pak captain urged the players to lift the level of their fielding and to brighten their team success chances. “ I am worried about fielding and it should be more better”. Defending, out of form vice captain, Salman Butt, Malik said he is trying to come out of the bad patch and hopefully he will do better in the test . He pointed out that the team is playing test cricket after a gap of almost seven months and that is why it is facing little difficulty to adjust with the level of competition. Malik termed the wicket lively and said it will support both the batsmen and bowlers because of having little bounce in it.
Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is confident the return of Inzamam-ul Haq and Mohammad Yousuf will spur Pakistan to victory over South Africa in the second Test. The key batsmen pulled out of the first Test, which Pakistan went on to lose by 160 runs to go 1-0 down in the two-match series.
Malik said his team would be bolstered by the return of Yousuf and the talismanic Inzamam, who will be playing his last Test after announcing his retirement from Test cricket.