Win has balanced both teams: Malik

Jaipur: The hungrier and keener side won at Jaipur. Addressing the media after the match, skipper Shoaib Malik admitted that Pakistan desperately wanted to clinch the last game before the start of the Test series.

Congratulating Team India on winning the Indian Oil Cup, Malik said, "Our victory here has balanced the two sides. It has given a great boost to our confidence."

He agreed that his own form, to a certain extent, dictated the course of the series. Malik said, "If you look at the series, usually two batsmen have been getting the scores - either Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan or Yousuf and Salman Butt. So, it may not matter who gets them."

He felt that Pakistan lacked the big partnerships, which set them back in the previous matches. "It happened today which propelled the score to 300-plus. With the dew coming into play, you need the big totals. In the earlier matches we have been getting totals around 250-260, which wasn't enough."

Malik mentioned that it was a conscious choice to field five bowlers: "I haven't been bowling much ever since I suffered a collar-bone fracture.

Given his run of low scores of late, was he under pressure going into this game?

He was quick to retort, "My face is such that people tend to interpret a lot of things. But believe me, I don't fear. Whatever the situation, I am always relaxed."

He felt it would be premature to comment on the wickets in the Test matches. "I am sure it will be different than what we had in the One-Dayers. Of course I'll love it if we get the same kind of wickets in the Tests," he beamed.