Malik rejects speculations seniors won’t support

KARACHI: Pakistan’s new captain Shoaib Malik on Saturday rejected speculations that he will not get the support of senior players saying that all his elder teammates were fully backing him.

“There are no problems in our team and I’m sure of getting all out support of all the players including my senior colleagues,” Malik said after his first practice session as captain at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.

Malik, 25, was named as Pakistan captain earlier this month, replacing Inzamam-ul-Haq who resigned after his team’s shocking World Cup exit in the Caribbean. The young all-rounder was appointed as the new skipper after Inzamam’s deputy Younis Khan refused to accept the team’s captaincy. Malik was preferred over several willing candidates like Pakistan’s premier batsman Mohammad Yousuf and all-rounders Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi — all more senior than him.

There have been rumours Younis and fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar have decided to stay away from a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi because they are unhappy with Malik’s captaincy.

“It is not true,” said Malik. “I have talked to both Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar and they have assured me their full support,” he added. Malik and several of his teammates began training for the assignment in Abu Dhabi pencilled in for May 9-15 without a coach.

Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer was found murdered in his hotel room on March 18 in Kingston after his team was knocked out of the World Cup after being shocked by minnows Ireland.

However, Malik said that his team is now looking forward to move on and hoped that the PCB would soon appoint a new coach.

The Sialkot-born player said that Pakistan would try out a few youngsters in the series against Sri Lanka. “The series in Abu Dhabi is not very important for us which is why we can afford to experiment with a few new players,” he said.

Malik hoped that leading players like Shoaib Akhtar and Younis would return to the side once more serious business starts with the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September followed by a home series against the Proteas this fall.

The captain said that Pakistan will start preparing for the 2011 World Cup and hoped that a strong team would represent the country in the contest to be held in the sub-continent.