{
    "id": "15128",
    "author": "13",
    "cnmid": "0",
    "title": "Need to improve our batting, says Shoaib Malik",
    "lang": "en",
    "series": "59",
    "cup_year": "2016",
    "article_type": "General",
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    "editor1": "<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Kolkata, March 20 (Cricketnmore):<\/strong> Expressing surprise over the Eden Garden pitch, Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik has blamed the batsmen for his side&#39;s loss to arch-rivals India in the World Twenty2o group encounter here on Saturday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;Losing and winning are part of the game but the fact remains we need to improve in a few areas, especially our batting. Even though the pitch was tough to bat on, I feel we could have set a better target.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;Credit goes to the Indian team for playing the way they did on a difficult pitch,&quot; said Malik after suffering a six-wicket defeat to the Indians.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Talking about the pitch, Malik shared Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni&#39;s post-match views that he was surprised at seeing the spinners getting plenty of help from Eden track throughout the game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;We were not expecting to get this kind of pitch. Even Dhoni said the same thing. We thought the pitch will be similar to the one we played on against Bangladesh,&quot; he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;We all are human beings and we can just have an idea of how the pitch will behave. Looking at the pitch, it didn&#39;t seem to be different from the one against Bangladesh. In fact, it looked to be better wicket.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;There are things which are beyond our control but the one thing that we need to focus on is our batting,&quot; said the middle order batsman.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Malik also defended his skipper Shahid Afridi&#39;s decision to come in at number three.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;Twenty20 is a game where one needs to be flexible. Our openers had played too many overs and the way Afridi played in the last match (against Bangladesh) we couldn&#39;t have overlooked that.&quot;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&quot;A captain usually leads from the front and he felt he could have scored quick runs. Since the pitch wasn&#39;t easy to bat, so this decision was taken,&quot; said Malik.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He also refused to put the blame on the bowlers for the defeat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Malik also rejected suggestions of the rain induced delay having an adverse effect on his team.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The match began an hour late and was reduced to an 18-over affair following early evening thundershowers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Effusive in his praise for man-of-the-match Virat Kohli, Malik described the star Indian batsman as the &quot;difference between the two teams&quot;.<\/p>\r\n",
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    "alt_img": "India vs Pakistan",
    "alt_title": "Shoaib Malik",
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    "seo_title": "Need to improve our batting, says Shoaib Malik",
    "seo_desc": "Need to improve our batting, says Shoaib MalikKolkata, March 20 (Cricketnmore): Expressing surprise over the Eden Garden pitch, Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik ha",
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    "created": "2016-03-20 14:52:00",
    "updated": "2016-03-20 14:52:00",
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