Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik has finally called time on his stellar international career with Pakistan. Malik made his debut for Pakistan back in 1999 in a ODI series against West Indies before making it to the Test side in 2001.
Malik’s contributions with both bat as well as the ball were key in Pakistan’s success in international cricket across the years. He also became a stalwart for the Pakistani side in T20Is.
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Malik has featured in over a 100 T20I games for Pakistan, even winning the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in 2009 in England. Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka in the Final to clinch their maiden T20 World Cup title. Malik scored an unbeaten 24 in that game as Younis Khan’s side cruised to an eight-wicket victory.
Malik called time in Test cricket in 2015 in order to focus on limited overs cricket. He then retired from ODI cricket following the 2019 ODI World Cup. He last featured for Pakistan in T20Is in 2021 in a game against Bangladesh.
Despite good performances as an all-rounder in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and various other franchise-based tournaments Malik was not selected to play for Pakistan. After three years of waiting, Malik has decided from international cricket altogether in a rather unusual way.
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Shoaib Malik on his retirement from international cricket
Talking to senior reporter Saleem Khaliq on Cricket Corner, Malik revealed that he is simply not interested in playing for Pakistan anymore. The veteran cricketer said that he was yet to officially announce his retirement from T20I cricket, but having played in different leagues he wanted to avail his opportunity. However there is no interest left anymore.
I am very happy and satisfied after playing for so many years. And now I have no interest left to play for the Pakistan cricket team. I have already retired from two formats, only one is left, but I still play in different leagues, trying to enjoy wherever I get an opportunity, trying to avail my chances. However, playing for Pakistan now? There is no such interest.
Khaliq questioned Malik if it’s official that he has retired from international cricket now, to which Malik responded saying “I have said I have no interest, however, I had mentioned in one of my previous interviews that once I take retirement it would be from all forms of cricket. But I have no interest left at all to play for the international team.”
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Shoaib Malik’s stats for Pakistan
Malik has featured for Pakistan in over 440 games across all formats with decent numbers. The former Pakistani skipper is a legend when it comes to white-ball cricket, playing numerous games in both ODIs and T20Is.
| Format | Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | SR | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 35 | 60 | 1898 | 35.14 | 45.67 | 245 |
| ODI | 287 | 258 | 7534 | 34.55 | 81.90 | 143 |
| T20I | 124 | 111 | 2435 | 31.21 | 125.64 | 75 |
| Format | Matches | Innings | Wickets | Average | Economy | BF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 35 | 43 | 32 | 47.46 | 3.36 | 4/33 |
| ODI | 287 | 217 | 158 | 39.18 | 4.66 | 4/19 |
| T20I | 124 | 49 | 28 | 24.10 | 7.10 | 2/7 |