LAHORE, Jan 14: While Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik vows to go all out for victory against Sri Lanka in the upcoming home series of three One-day Internationals, he has welcomed the PCB’s decision of giving the team management the right to choose the playing eleven.

Sri Lankan are scheduled to tour Pakistan from Jan 18 to play three ODIs till Jan 24.

Talking to reporters at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) on Wednesday, Malik said it would be a good series and if his men played according to the game plan and with responsibility, Pakistan could beat the strong islanders.

“I would not like to declare Pakistan as favourites since no one is a certain winner in today’s cricket. But we have the ability to win,” Malik said.

Asked if the Pakistan management had devised a plan to counter the threat of magical spinning duo of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis, Malik said Pakistani players had played against them and had the ability to face them with authority. “No doubt Muralitharan and Mendis are great spinners and they are the main strength of the Sri Lankan team, but we have to tackle them for which a game plan is on the card,” he said.

Malik predicted that due to the cold weather, the pitches would be more helpful to the batsmen but added he would like bouncy strips to be made for the series.

Pakistan has included as many as six pace bowlers in the 15-member squad for the first ODI, indicating that the hosts will be going for faster pitches in the three-match contest.

Welcoming the PCB’s decision of allowing captain and manager to pick up the final playing eleven from the 15-member squad, Malik said it was a good decision which would help them plan better. “The captain and coach have to make a game plan for every match, thus it is better to allow them to pick the players who are able to act according to the plan,” he said.

The previous selection committee headed by Salahuddin Ahmad had been selecting the playing eleven for every match of the home series while in the away games, skipper Malik and then coach Geoff Lawson were responsible to select the playing eleven.