Former Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik has announced his retirement from ODI cricket after his side were knocked out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
The 37-year-old made his ODI debut against the West Indies in 1999, and since then has played in 287 matches, scoring 7,534 runs – including nine centuries – and taking 158 wickets.
Having retired from Test cricket in 2015 to focus on limited overs game, Malik was selected in Pakistan’s squad for this year’s World Cup edition but was dropped from the playing XI after scoring just eight runs in three innings.
Speaking after Pakistan’s 94-run victory over Bangladesh at Lord’s on Friday, which saw the Men in Green miss out on the fourth semi-final spot to the Black Caps because of their inferior net-run-rate, Malik confirmed his retirement from the 50-over format but reiterated his intention to play in next year’s T20 World Cup.
“I’m sad that I’ll be leaving the format of cricket that I once loved,” Malik said. “But happy that I’ll be spending more time with my family.
“I would like to thank some of the most important people who’ve supported me through these 20 years of international cricket, starting with the players I shared dressing rooms with, the coaches I played under, my friends and family, the media, my sponsors, the Pakistan cricket board and sports board.
“But most importantly, my fans, I love you all.
“If you go through the whole thing, sometimes you perform and sometimes you don’t. But of course [the World Cup] is a big platform and expectations were high.
“If you don’t perform, that’s life and life never stops. I’m really satisfied with my ODI career.”
A legend leaves the ODI field for the final time.
Thank you Shoaib Malik 👏#CWC19 | #PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/g1tlIsPEK0
— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) July 5, 2019
