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Pakistan v Bangladesh, 1st ODI, Lahore
'This is not a time-pass series' - Malik
April 9, 2008
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Shoaib Malik has said that Pakistan will look to give chances to players who have done well in the domestic circuit.
© Getty Images
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Shoaib Malik refuses to underestimate Bangladesh, despite marshalling a
152-run thumping win in the opening game of the five-match ODI series against
the visitors in Lahore. A century from Mohammad Yousuf and 85 from the
captain himself set Pakistan up before Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum and
Shahid Afridi wrapped up a comfortable win over a strangely insipid
Bangladesh.
Malik, however, insisted that it was dangerous to draw too many
conclusions from the game. "You can't judge a team on one match alone.
This is cricket where you can't take any team lightly," he said. "We set
them a big target and sometimes if you get a good start, you can push the
chase close. But our bowlers did really well to take early wickets to put
the pressure on."
Pakistan also plans to give opportunities to players who have impressed in
the domestic ABN AMRO cup, though the first target, Malik insisted, was to
wrap up the series. "This is not a time-pass series for us. We are taking
it seriously and we want to improve our fielding and fitness during it.
"Our first priority is to win the series. After that we will look at some
of the guys who have done well in the domestic tournaments and give them a
chance."
As has been the recent trend, Pakistan used a combination of Malik and
Afridi for the fifth bowler duties and though both have done well against
admittedly limited opposition, the ploy will need reworking in tougher
environments.
"We should have a sixth bowling option," Malik admitted. "We tried this
same line-up in Jaipur against India last year, except we had Fawad Alam
in place of Afridi. But we need options for example if one of the bowlers
becomes unfit during a match. This is still an experimental combination
that we are playing."
The series moves on to Faisalabad for the second game, on April 11.
© Cricinfo
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