Salim Mailk’s name these days is synonymous with match fixing. Reason: He was made the scapegoat of the entire match fixing fiasco. Wasim Akram and several others got away scot-free. There was no concrete evidence against any player.
The fact of the matter is that his career was ruined by asinine behavior of pakistan cricket board. When at the peak of his batting career (when he scored two match saving centuries against Austrlia to win the test series), he was sacked based on testimony of Shane Warne. Shane Warne’s personal history is not very clean...moreover, he was taken to the cleaners by Salim Malik during the series and he obviously had a score to settle.
I have little doubt in saying that he was the finest pakistani batsman against pace bowling during the last two decades. During late eighties and early nineties, he treated many West Indian fast bowlers with utter disdain. He was famous for his knock in Calcutta when he gave no respite to any Indian bowler and made 72 of 35 balls. He then batted Pakistan to a historical triumph in Nehur Cup played in India. As a captain, he handled the pressure well and his personal performance improved.
He also developed himself into a very handy one day bowler.
History will not remember him in a good name but his loyal fans always will.