Amidst all the handshake drama, certain former cricketers sound really pissed with Pakistan's approach in the 2025 Asia Cup, and one of them is Shoaib Malik. He recently had a chat on the Tapmad YouTube channel where he sounded annoyed at his team for not using their brains properly. In the video, Malik mentioned how the Pakistan team lacks flexibility and is not thinking enough to rotate players according to the conditions. He called out critics, saying that sharing views won't help if the team can't apply them. He said, "Dekhiye hum toh yaha baith ke bohot saare ideas de rahe hain, combinations bata rahe hain, batting orders bata rahe. Lekin jinhone karna hain, pehle toh ye check karna padega unke paas bhi itna dimag hain itni depth main soch sake. Toh phir toh aap ideas zaroor de aur kuch cheez samajh main aa jaye. (We can keep giving ideas sitting here about combinations and batting orders but the people who have to execute them, do they have the cricketing brains to think in such depth?)." Pakistan has played a tri-series involving the UAE and Afghanistan before coming to the Asia Cup campaign. Recalling Pakistan's eleven there against Afghanistan in the final, Malik felt that the Asia cup squad demanded changes, as the conditions were different. Malik stated, "Woh jo final Afghanistan ke saath jo team final main khele thhe woh different venue tha. Sharjah ka venue. Par jab aap Asia Cup khelne aaye, aapne same combination hi khela. Kyun? Because woh jeeti hui thhi. Bhai, conditions change hoti hain.. Jaise aap batting main keh rahe ho sabko hona chahiye, then aap bhi toh flexible ho na. (The final that they played against Afghanistan in Sharjah before the Asia Cup, they are playing the same combinations here too. Why? Because they won. Conditions change.) He added, "Jab venue change ho raha hain, conditions different demand kar rahe hain, different combination demand kar raha hain, aap bhi toh karo na. Proactive raho. Toh woh th woh ho nahi paa rahe” (You are saying batting order should be flexible but you also be flexible too. When there’s a venue change and conditions are demanding a different combination, you change according to it. Be proactive)." Read also: Is Handshake Mandatory in Cricket? Anil Chaudhary Explains ICC Rules Malik, moreover, felt that Pakistan is heavily dependent on all-rounders. according to him, the team really has one to two specialized batters. He further thinks that too many all-rounders can sometimes confuse the think tank, making things tough for the captain. He said, "Aur jo doosri baat hain dekhein, mujhe sirf genuine ek do battes hi nazar main aa rahe hain, jo bolwing nahi karte. Baaki saare toh bowling karte hain. Iska matlab aap saari hi alllrounders ke saath khel rahe. Jab aapke paas bohot saare allrounders honge, bohot saari cheezein hoti hain side main, captain bhi confuse ho jaata hain ki andar jaake maine kya karna hain. think tank bhi confuse ho jaata hain. So don’t confuse yourselves regardless of the format." ((I can only see 1-2 genuine batters in this team. everyone else bowls. That means you are playing with mostly allrounders. When you have so many allrounders, there are a lot of issues. The captain gets confused as well as the think tank gets confused) Malik advised taking specialized batters and bowlers, believing that they will do their job at their best, especially when the team is in distress. The combination, according to him, may work. for small teams, but it won't help much against the mighty ones. Notably, Pakistan will face India again this Sunday, September 21.