The Maliks, and worries of fame thrust upon them

“They think that he should not have been made the skipper, but what they don’t know is it was thrust upon him,” he added.

His brother wasn’t angry, but the hurt he felt could be seen. He went on to say how, when he was made captain, it became an issue of pride and he had to take the job.

“What would you have done? No one was willing to take up the job and he only stood up and accepted the post. Now people are after his blood just after a few matches. He did take the team into the final of the Twenty20 World Cup didn’t he? So it’s just sad when you hear former players just attacking him like that.”

One realises the sensitivity of the topic and moves away from it and into Shoaib’s childhood and his start as a cricketer. “Who would have known that two years later he would be leading the team on that very same ground,” he said.

As young boys in Sialkot, he and his brother would stand outside the stadium just to get a glimpse of the cricketers as they came out. They stood outside, because they could not afford the tickets.

“We come from a humble family, our father had an electronics shop and it did not really earn much, but no matter how much success he has, Shoaib will never forget his beginnings and his roots.”

Malik’s father had pressured him into playing cricket and his brother said that he was so serious that he even told Shoaib to focus less on his education and more on his cricket.

“I guess he saw something in him and knew that if Shoaib was to become someone big, then cricket was the only route.”

Shoaib was selected for the u-15 Pakistan squad and then became one of the most promising off-spinners in the country and in 1999 made the national senior squad. It’s ironic that Malik would replace the very bowler that he looked up to and sought inspiration from. His action is even based on that of Saqlain’s.

“Wasim Akram during the 1999 World Cup had spotted him and since Saqlain Mushtaq was injured he then got a chance to play in the team and the rest is just history,” Imran said.