Salim Malik Makes a Shocking Claim About Pakistan's Greatest Fast Bowling Duo

Former Pakistan captain, Salim Malik, has recalled the time when the Pakistan cricket team went through phases of turmoil. Malik said that when he became the captain of the national side in 1993, Wasim and Waqar stopped talking to him as they wanted the captaincy.

“Wasim and Waqar were my support but as a professional, they would concentrate on their performances. Do you know that they wouldn’t speak to me because I was made the captain? I even talked to them about it a couple of times. When I would ask them to bowl, they would snatch the ball from me. I had become the captain whereas Wasim and Waqar wanted it.”

The 90s is considered the golden era of the Pakistan team as they won the 1992 World Cup, reached the quarter-final of the 1996 World Cup, and played the final of the 1999 World Cup despite grouping and differences in the team.

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While discussing the tactics he had used in utilizing the pacers despite differences and winning the series, the former captain said that he was telling Wasim that he was the No. 1 bowler and if he does not perform well his Waqar will definitely get wickets and used the same tactics with Waqar.

“They weren’t talking to me and still we won the series. I would tell him ‘Waz, you are the world’s No. 1 bowler. If you get wickets or not, it won’t affect me because it’s your own reputation. Waqar would surely get 5 wickets but. That’s how I made him operate. And I would use the same ploy of Waqar. This is what is called management. I used my brain to make sure they kept performing.”

Malik, who as captain won 21 ODIs and 7 Test matches out of 34 and 12 matches respectively, further said that he didn’t understand why he was removed from captaincy as he was winning matches and series for Pakistan.

“In the series against South Africa, we had won 5 matches out of six. Because I was winning matches and series for Pakistan, some people had a problem with it. How to counter? What should we do so that he is removed? I didn’t understand back then what was happening because I was not part of any politics,” he concluded.