While questions are being raised over the Pakistan team's shoddy performance in the ongoing Asia Cup so far, the team is looking for answers in the way the Indian team has gone about its business.
After the two heavy defeats against India, coach Mickey Arthur said that his openers and bowlers need to learn from how the Indians execute their plans. On Tuesday, a day ahead of a virtual semifinal against Bangladesh, veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik claimed that Pakistan needs to learn from the system in Indian cricket.
"When you are in a building process, you need time. It's not a time to panic and change players. If you change a lot of players, newcomers will also need time. We have to see India's system, how they develop their players. They are the best side in the world. You have to give confidence to the players that the management, the captain and selection committee have picked," Malik opined.
"PCB chairman came to the dressing room after the match and gave us confidence. He said that you must give it the best shot. Such things happen in the game," he added.
Arthur has emphasized on the lack of confidence in the team currently. While Malik didn't deny the remark, he did say that one can't ignore the difference in experience compared to India. "We need to learn from how Bumrah and Bhuvi are bowling. The Indian team has a lot of very experienced players. Our boys can only learn from players who have played so many matches and also from their young players. It's not like someone with 200 matches cannot learn from those who have played 5-10 matches. They can learn from anyone," the 36-year-old said.
This is where the man, with 270 ODIs to his name over a period of 19 years, believes the senior players need to come in. "If you have senior players in the team, their duty is not only to perform but to also be helpful to the juniors and make them confident. Even when we win there is a duty to help the juniors. If it's happening, then the team is going in the right direction."
The Pakistan team is clearly shaken by how things have transpired in the last 10 days. Malik knows he has to bring all his experience into play to keep Bangladesh at bay on Wednesday and give his team another shot at India and the Asia Cup title.
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