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Asia Cup: Shoaib Malik keen to face India in the finals to settle scores

Mirpur, Mar 1: Pakistan's most experienced batting all-rounder Shoaib Malik's unbeaten 63-run-knock helped his side register its first victory in the Asia Cup T20 tournament.

Asia Cup schedule and squads;

The side is trying to move on after the forgettable loss against India in their first game and is keen for a rematch with the arch-rivals in the finals to seek revenge of the humiliation.

Malik keen to face India in finals


Malik told the Pakistani media in Mirpur that they had lost to India in the group match on Saturday since the team had failed to adapt to the conditions at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.

"I think we failed to read the pitch and conditions properly against India and instead of adapting ourselves we committed hari kari by trying to play overly attacking shots," he said.

(Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal steer Pakistan to victory against UAE)(Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal steer Pakistan to victory against UAE)

The former Pakistan captain said everyone in the team was disappointed by the defeat but were now also more intent on winning matches to qualify for the final.

"We want to play India in the final again and we know we can do well against them. It is all a matter of just adapting to the different conditions here," Malik added.

He said that all the seniors in the side realised how important it was for them to fire on all cylinders now in the Asia Cup.

"We all know just how disappointing the defeat to India must have been to our supporters back home. We know how much emotions are involved in a match with India and we would like to make amends."

(Preview: Asia Cup T20: Pakistan Vs Bangladesh in Mirpur on March 2)(Preview: Asia Cup T20: Pakistan Vs Bangladesh in Mirpur on March 2)

Malik said Pakistan's biggest strength was it had good pace and spin bowlers and the batsmen just needed to put their heads down and manage a fighting total.

"I thought we also fought hard against India and Aamir's spell was magnificent. The rest of the pace bowlers are also in good form so we are looking at a comeback in this tournament."

Malik refused to criticise the pitches insisting that as professional cricketers teams had to learn to adapt to different conditions.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)

Story first published: Thursday, August 3, 2017, 7:29 [IST]
Other articles published on Aug 3, 2017