Malik hopes army training will help his boys against India

Lahore, June 27 (UNI) Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik refrained from predicting the results of the forthcoming games against India and hosts Scotland in Glasgow but is confident that the special wickets at the army-style training camp in Abbotabad would help his boys blossom.

''We are going there to display maximum show of our talent and I hope the boys are quite fit to earn their objective from the tour,'' Malik said.

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan are set to clash in a one-off ODI match at Glasgow on July 3.

''We held a good training camp in Abbotabad, but what we will get from the two matches in Scotland is most important because it will bring forth the real talent of the players,'' he added.

The newly appointed skipper disclosed that special wickets were prepared for the training camp in Abbotabad which were conducive to the environment of Scotland and hopefully the boys would not face any problem due to seaming or fast tracks there.

''The army trainer had prepared a comprehensive fitness trainingprogramme for us in Abbotabad and I believe Pakistan has good local trainers who can perform well,'' he told 'The Dawn'.

The 15-member Pakistan team left from Lahore for Glasgow today morning for matches on July 3 and 5.

Malik stated that his focus was to bring out top quality performance from his boys and to give a tough fight to any team without caring about win or defeat.

Shoaib, who was named skipper in December this year in place of Inzamam-ul-Haq after the 2007 World Cup, said India had selected a well-balanced side for the series and hopefully the spectators would enjoy thrilling cricket in the match between the two arch-rivals.

He avoided any comments on Salman Butt's appointment as the vice-captain, saying it was PCB's right to pick any person to assist him and he had no problems whatsoever in this regard.

Shoaib hoped the games in Scotland will give his boys considerable international exposure before the challenging Twenty20 World Cup, to be held in South Africa in September.

The PCB is also under negotiation to have a four-nation Twenty20 series in August before the World Cup either.

UNI