Pakistan cricket legend Inzamam-ul-Haq backed his former national teammate Saleem Malik to get a second chance like India’s Mohammad Azharuddin to be part of some kind of cricket related activities in the country, saying “it is unfortunate to see that his career ended” outside of the cricket field.
The former Pakistan batsman was handed a life ban in 2000 by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for match-fixing, which was later lifted in 2008 by a Lahore local court.
Inzamam believes that Malik should be given a second chance to give something back to Pakistan cricket, saying he is one of the greatest batsmen ever to have played for the country and he deserves a second innings to do something for the country having vast knowledge of the game.
The 57-year-old right-hander played 103 Tests and 283 ODIs for Pakistan in which he scored 5768 and 7170 runs respectively and former captain and chief selector feel one of the batting greats of the country should get chance to contribute to Pakistan cricket in some way.
Inzamam said in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, “It is unfortunate to see that his career ended like that. It should not have ended that way. But I believe he deserves a second innings to do something for the country. Like in India, former captain Mohammad Azharuddin was also named once, but he is now the President of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.
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Similarly, Malik should also be involved in some kind of cricket related activities. The way Mohammad Yusuf used to play, the way Zaheer Abbas used to or the way Babar Azam plays, Malik was also the same type of player. He has played more than 100 Tests for Pakistan and scored more than 7000 runs.”
He signed off by saying, “The new generation might not have seen him play but he was a great player. I have never seen someone analyze the game as well as he used to do. He might have been away from the game for more than 10-15 year but he still has a lot to give back.”
(With IANS Inputs)
