Pakistan captain praises team unity

24 Sep, 2007

Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik said on Sunday that team unity had played a key role in his team's surge to the Twenty20 World Cup final against India on Monday.
"All the players have been giving 100 percent and that's all I want. We are combining very well, that's our main strength, all of our players are trump cards," Malik told reporters on Sunday.
The skipper said Pakistan would be devising a special plan for Yuvraj Singh, the Indian batsman who scored six sixes in one over against England and cut Australia's attack to shreds in Saturday's semi-final in Durban. "He has been playing superbly and, of course, we will meet after practice today and, God willing, come up with some sort of plan for him."
"I have never seen batting like that before and he is in very good form." Pakistan have suffered a traumatic 12 months with a forfeited test match, drug scandals, player disputes, a shock first-round exit at the 50-over World Cup and the death of coach Bob Woolmer, but Malik said the mood in the camp had lifted during the Twenty20 World Cup.
"We are professionals, so we had to change ourselves. The World Cup (in the Caribbean) is history and we are just concentrating on this final. Things have been going very nicely and we are playing much better," he said.
Opening batsman Imran Nazir, who scored a quickfire 59 in the semi-final win over New Zealand in Cape Town on Saturday, is expected to be fit for the final after injuring his groin and requiring a runner in that innings.

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