In every team there is a leader, the one who steps up and takes the bull by the horns. The man that will take that mantle for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the 2019 HERO Caribbean Premier League is Shoaib Malik.
The 37-year-old former Pakistan captain is tipped to lead the side, having assumed the responsibilities last season but departed just five matches into the tournament.
However, this year he will be in for the entire duration and has three things on his mind.
“My personal goal is to win and groom youngsters and have good atmosphere in the dressing room,” Malik stated.
He posited that these attributes go hand-in-hand but was humbled that he can still be taught despite playing international cricket for two decades. However, while he embraced the role of ‘teacher,’ in the Warriors set up, he is pleased with the transitioning of young talents to the international stage and the mixture of experience and youth in the squad.
“I think we have quite a few good youngsters and our senior players are supporting them to gel together and I think it is a great sign for any team and the good thing is, particularly in this team they are keeping the same cricketers, youngsters and seniors so they can gel together,” Malik commented.
The veteran of 345 T20s added, “For me to be honest not because I have played a lot of international cricket, it’s just that you need experience with the youngsters and I think we have that in our team, we have a lot of the youngsters and at the same time we have the experienced guys, we have [Shimron] Hetmyer, he was here last year and did well and he started playing international cricket where he is improving day by day so having him in our side and [Sherfane] Rutherford, we have seen him play quite a few good innings for us last year.”
The right handed batsman who is also a capable off-spinner has featured in every edition of the tournament since its inception back in 2013 and is in love with the Caribbean flare.
When asked about his fascination of the CPL, Malik responded, “The enthusiasm of the people, they are very passionate about their cricket and even last year I have seen players show up at the ground and were cheering for both the teams, that was like very fascinating for me, they were cheering for whoever was playing and supporting a particular batsman or bowler who was doing well in that particular day and I think they enjoy every moment of being at the ground.”
Malik commended the tournament for its role in the development of West Indian players, noting that the fruits of its labor is evident in the two titles of the Caribbean in the World T20 tournament.
“The good thing is this CPL product is giving a lot of the cricketers in the West Indian teams especially in white ball team and you see those teams doing well, of course they have won two world T20 but in ODI cricket they were struggling a bit but things are getting better and I think that is what any good league does for the country and I think the CPL is doing the same thing,” he said.
The former Barbados Trident proudly confessed his love for being here and was appreciative of the welcoming nature of the locals.
“Even though the beaches are not as good as Barbados but still enjoy being here and people are supporting you and the team and loving all the players, wherever I go they always come up to you and say good things about the team and about myself,” he proclaimed.
With his love for the Caribbean, Malik noted that there isn’t much of a difference in the cultures of the people and even in Pakistan but suggested that the one stand out difference was their love for partying.
“Well to be honest, this is my seventh year and I don’t see much difference in terms of culture and I think you got to be flexible in life, you go visit as a professional player, you visit different countries, different cities, you catch up with different natures so for me these people are not judgmental and if you do well you get a lot of appreciation and on the other side, they just see if you are giving your best shot and that’s more than enough for them and the most important thing is they party hard in the whole Caribbean,” he explained.
