February 19, 2024
Taking his former teammate Shoaib Malik head-on for his futile performance during the Karachi Kings match on Sunday, former Pakistani cricketer Abdul Razzaq has made a huge claim on how it has impacted the team on the whole.
Razzak, who has played with Malik during his international cricket career, said the all-rounder played well, but only for himself and not for his team.
"A player is someone who plays for a team," the ex-cricketer said, sharing his views on Geo News programme 'Harna Mana Hai'.
Multan Sultans, a day earlier, downed Karachi Kings in a convincing 55-run win in the third game of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 9 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Malik is playing for the Kings in the league's latest edition which played its first match of the ongoing season.
He was the top performer, scoring 54 runs off 35 balls. However, that did not help his team clinch victory, as Sultans' bowlers were up to the task as they restricted Kings to 130/8 while defending a target of 186.
During Kings' innings, Malik was joined by his skipper Shan Masood, after which the two began to initiate a recovery for their side.
The batters added 52 runs for the third wicket. But in the ninth over, Masood was dismissed by Usama Mir.
After the captain's dismissal, Malik played a one-sided partnership alongside Mohammad Nawaz scoring 37 runs.
But Abbas hit back on the next delivery and dismissed Malik, who remained the top-scorer for the Kings with 53 off 35 deliveries, peppered with five boundaries and two sixes.
The all-rounder, knowing the team required a mounting run rate, shifted gears smashing a six and two boundaries to deliveries by Iftikhar Ahmed in the 12th over.
He scored his 50th run at the 13th over's first delivery by Abbas Afridi via a cover drive, but was dismissed on the ball by the Sultans' bowler.