Shoaib Malik described his team's close defeats against India as sheer bad luck and said the players were high on morale as they were not lacking in cricketing terms.
KARACHI: Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik on Wednesday described his team's close defeats against India as sheer bad luck and said the players were high on morale as they were not lacking in cricketing terms.
"Man to man both teams were equal in strength and balanced. Team to team we fought on an even keel. But I would say it was just sheer bad luck we could not beat India twice in the tournament," Malik said on arrival from Johannesburg.
"I think in purely cricketing terms we were not lacking anywhere. It was just not our day against India. We tried our best. But overall the team gave a fantastic performance and our confidence is very high now," he said.
Malik said it was praiseworthy that his team had adjusted so well to reach the final.
"Twenty20 cricket is such that all the batsmen and bowlers need to go in and fire and there is no time to settle down. If someone does not contribute it makes a difference to the result. I am proud of my players even though we lost the final."
He said the team was now confident and looking ahead to the Test series against South Africa and doing well.
"What had happened in the 50-overs World Cup in the West Indies is now history and the team needed to build on the Twenty20 World Cup success," he said
Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Nasim Ashraf, who also returned on the same flight as Malik, praised the team's performance, saying they had done the nation proud.
"The six weeks of hard training they did before the Twenty20 tournament paid off in the matches itself. As the boys were physically and mentally fit for the matches. We are proud of their performance."
"Even though we lost to India in the final but it was not disgrace. The players fought hard till the end and put in a lot of effort. The team's performance is the start of a new era for Pakistan cricket."
Ashraf said he would be meeting with senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf on Thursday to convince him to drop his Indian Cricket League contract and make himself available for Pakistan.
He said that Yousuf was an important player and the team was not complete without him.
"I have invited him for talks and doors are always open for players who have joined the ICL. But we would also like Yousuf to be more responsible and give priority to Pakistan."
Yousuf has said he didn't join the ICL for money and he would spell out the reasons for his decision after meeting with the PCB chief.
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