The win in Jaipur salvaged some pride for the visitors despite their ultimate 3-2 one-day series defeat and Malik said: "It was a very pleasing victory.
"We played a great game and it is what we needed with the Tests coming up.
"I have to pay credit to my players who have continued to put the effort in and we hope to keep the momentum going."
Malik was named man-of-the-match after scoring 89 with the bat and then taking three wickets to help curb the Indian reply.
But the captain was keen to pay tribute to all his players, in particular wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed, who performed ably in place of Kamran Akmal.
"All of the fringe players came in and did very well," he said. "We didn't play Shoaib (Akhtar), Younus (Khan) or Shahid (Afridi), but we maintained our intensity despite the fact the series was gone.
"Sarfraz in particular did well, I thought, and it is pleasing to see we have wicket-keepers coming through in Pakistan.
"As for me, my form is fine now. I just hope myself and the team can take this performance into the Test series."
India captain Mahendra Dhoni admitted his side lost too many wickets early on as they fell to 62-4 chasing Pakistan's 306-6.
"I have always said the early overs are crucial and we lost too many wickets," he said. "That put extra pressure on our middle-order batsmen and so it was always going to be difficult.
"However, all the team did what they had to before today so it has been a very pleasing series overall."
Dhoni revealed that he expects to be fit for the Test series after twisting his ankle attempting a run.
"Nothing is broken so it should be fine," he said. "I'm already feeling a lot better, there is no swelling and hopefully it should be fine."
Pakistan had an injury concern of their own when prolific batsman Mohammad Yousuf left the field with an elbow problem.
Skipper Malik played down the injury, however, and said: "It is nothing major. The doctor advised him to rest and it will improve."
Meanwhile, India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was fined 20% of his match fee after being charged under clause 2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for showing dissent at an umpire's decision.
Yuvraj was incensed by umpire Suresh Shastri's decision to give him out caught behind as he attempted to hook Umar Gul, and stood his ground, indicating that he felt the ball had hit his shoulder rather than the bat or glove.
The first Test of the three-match series starts in Delhi on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment