Karachi: Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal rated Pakistan’s experienced Shoaib Malik over Steve Smith as far as tackling spin bowling is concerned.
Speaking to an Indian journalist, Chahal recalled Asia Cup 2018 where he bowled to Malik and narrated how good the right-hander is against the spinner. “In the Asia Cup 2018, I faced difficulty in bowling to Malik as he was so gently pushing the good ball for a single. I think he is better than Smith against spinners,” the leg-spin bowler said.
@yuzi_chahal : "I was bowling to @realshoaibmalik during the Asia Cup and was impressed with the way he was taking singles of good deliveries. I realised that this player has a lot of experience and I think he is better than Steve Smith when it comes to playing spin bowling." pic.twitter.com/L2649A9sGk
— Thakur (@ThakurHassam94) April 28, 2020
It must be noted here that Malik has so far represented Pakistan in 35 Tests, 287 ODIs, and 113 T20Is. He has a handsome overall average in all three formats. He scored 1898 at an average of 35.14 in Tests, 7534 at an average of 34.55 in ODIs, and 2321 at an average of 31.36.
Apart from batting, he has 32 wickets in Tests, 158 wickets in ODIs and 28 scalps in T20Is.