Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik today described his team's close defeats
against India as sheer bad luck and said the players were high on morale
as they were not lacking in cricketing terms.
"Man to man both teams were equal in strength and balanced. Team to team
we fought on an even keel. But I would say it was just sheer bad luck we could
not beat India twice in the tournament," Malik told reporters on arrival
from Johannesburg.
"I think in purely cricketing terms we were not lacking
anywhere. It was just not our day against India. We tried our best. But overall
the team gave a fantastic performance and our confidence is very high now,"
he said.
Malik said it was praiseworthy that his team had adjusted so
well to reach the final.
"Twenty20 cricket is such that all the batsmen and bowlers
need to go in and fire and there is no time to settle down. If someone does
not contribute it makes a difference to the result. I am proud of my players
even though we lost the final." He said the team was now confident and
looking ahead to the Test series against South Africa and doing well.
"What had happened in the 50-overs World Cup in
the West Indies is now history and the team needed to build on the Twenty20
World Cup success," he said.
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