Diary
Glad to be Back in Runs and Wickets
By Shoaib Malik
Oct 18, 2006, 20:07

Our win over Sri Lanka was a big victory given what the team had been through but it was also a big game for me after a few poor matches in England.

I don’t want to dwell on the events leading up to our match because enough has been said of that already but obviously it was hard for the team to lose their opening bowlers a day before a crunch match in the Champions Trophy.

We are a positive bunch of players and we have a great deal of faith in one another and not once did we feel we could never win that match in Jaipur.

Everyone made a contribution and it was a very enjoyable win against a team who many people have said could win the tournament. For me it was also a big game.

A lot of people had asked me about my poor form in England and whether I was going to carry on opening and whether I should have even played those four one-day games in England at all as I was coming back from injury. Personally I was never worried about anything.

The truth is, at the start of the England tour I was hitting the ball beautifully and scored a hundred at Leicestershire and then my injury came along. So as soon as that was healed I was keen to get back into my cricket.

The fact I didn’t score many runs there was nothing to do with the fact I can’t play the swinging ball as some have suggested as I’ve scored runs in swinging conditions before. Looking back, it was probably my lack of match practice that prevented me from reaching my best form.

But it was also that fact that allowed me to stay confident coming in to the ICC Champions Trophy. I knew I wasn’t out of form. I just needed more time to allow my elbow to get used to playing international cricket again.

It was a very satisfying innings (46 not out), particularly my six against Murali, and I was pleased to see Abdul Razzaq come in and hit the ball so well at the end. He really took all the pressure off me.

Another aspect to the match that I was happy about was my two wickets. The injury affected my bowling for a while and I know a few people started to wonder whether I was becoming just a batsman instead of someone who bowls off-spin and bats. So to get back amongst the wickets was nice.

It was the perfect start for us as a team so hopefully we can continue against New Zealand and South Africa as we have started.

I scored some runs in India last year when we were here – three fifties in four games – so I enjoy the pitches and the country and hope my game can keep improving.