Kolkata: Pakistan allrounder Shoaib Malik feels the underdogs tag would help them do well in the ICC World T20, like it did when they ended up winning the 1992 World Cup and 2009 World T20.
“It’s good that we’re underdogs and that gives you a lot of confidence at the same time. We are here to do well,” Malik said at the open media session here on Sunday.
Drawing parallel with Imran Khan-led team’s World Cup winning moment in Australia, the senior Pakistani cricketer said: “Let’s talk about 1992 World Cup first. People were not expecting us to do well and win it but we won that. Same thing happened in 2007 World T20 when we did well before losing to India in the final. In 2009, we were not that big as a team but still we won. The same is the case going into this edition.”
Blaming their group stage exit in the recently-concluded Asia Cup to lack of preparation Malik said, “We could not deliver as per the expectations in the Asia Cup. It’s part of life, we are professionals. Whatever happened has happened. We are here to give our best.”
With cricket tours stopped since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, Pakistan cricket had suffered a lot but the beginning of the Pakistan Super League was a positive sign for them, Malik said. “It is going to take a bit of time to come to a level where rest of the world is. If you look at successful Indian players like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, you could figure it out that they have improved a lot after they started playing IPL.”
