Rain hampers Pakistan's preparations
Malik frustrated with rain-ravaged tour
Cricinfo staff
July 6, 2007
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Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, expressed understandable frustration on return from a short tour to Scotland which saw his side play no matches and put in no outdoor practice either.
Pakistan were scheduled to play two ODIs, against Scotland and India in Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively, but both were washed out without a ball being bowled as the UK experienced one of its wettest recent summers.
"In Pakistan, a match against India is above everything else and the players were also looking forward to it although it was for a charitable cause. If we had performed well, it would have been good for our morale and boosted the confidence of the people in us," Malik told reporters on the team's return.
"It was very frustrating but there was nothing we could do. I was very keen for the match against India because Shoaib Akhtar was making a comeback after a while and was fired up for the game," Malik said.
Abdul Razzaq also expressed disappointment at missing out on the match against India. "The rain ruined everything. We were all looking forward to playing India. But now we must just look ahead and start preparing for other things.
"These things happen and one can't do anything about it. But playing India at such neutral venues is not a bad idea," Razzaq said.
Pakistan will now resume training at camps in Quetta and Karachi before playing in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September. "We have around two months without any international cricket and it is an ideal time for us to train hard and work on our fitness and also get acclimatised with our new coach whoever he is," Malik said.
"After the Twenty20 World Championship, we face three very tough series against South Africa, India and Australia and we must start preparing for them seriously. For me as a captain it is a big challenge leading the side in such big series," he said.
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