England, Lords, July 6, 2019: Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik announced retirement from one-day international cricket following their final ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 game against Bangladesh at Lord’s on Friday, 5 July.
Malik, who made his Pakistan debut in a one-day international against West Indies in 1999, has decided to draw curtains on an ODI career spanning 20 years, and will now train all focus on the shortest format. He announced the decision after Pakistan’s victory against Bangladesh in their final game of the tournament on Friday.
“I’m sad that I’ll be leaving a format of cricket that I loved but happy that I’ll have more time to spend with my family,” said Malik after the game against Bangladesh. “This will also allow me to focus on T20 cricket.”
Apart from the 2019 edition, where he played three matches, he also featured in the 2007 World Cup in West Indies, as well as a total of five editions of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. He led Pakistan to the finals of the inaugural ICC Men’s World T20 in 2007, where Pakistan lost to India in a thrilling finish in Johannesburg.
He was a key member of Pakistan’s victorious campaign in the following edition held in England in 2009 under as the Younis Khan led-side trumped Sri Lanka in the finals at Lord’s.
Read More: Pakistan show promise for the future with Imam, Babar and Shaheen all impressing at Lord’s
Malik, the most capped player in Pakistan’s squad at the ongoing World Cup, could score only 8 runs in three innings which included back to back ducks against Australia and India. He was replaced by Haris Sohail in the game against South Africa at Lord’s.
He played a total of 287 ODIs across his career. A batting all-rounder, Malik finishes with 7534 runs and 158 wickets against his name in the international fifty-over game.
The 37-year old had made his last ODI appearance against India in Manchester. He finishes with nine hundreds and 44 half-centuries in the format. His final ODI fifty came against Australia at Sharjah in March 2019.
Courtesy: ICC
