Shoaib Malik retires from ODIs, wife Sania posts emotional message

NEW DELHI: Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik confirmed his retirement from one-day cricket without making a farewell appearance in his side’s victory over Bangladesh at Lord’s on Friday.

Indian tennis star Sania Mirza posted a inspiring quote for her cricketer husband on his retirement, adding that she and their son Izhaan are proud of everything he has achieved.

“‘Every story has an end, but in life, every ending is a new beginning’. Shoaib Malik, you have proudly played for your country for 20 years and you continue to do so with so much honour and humility. Izhaan and I are so proud of everything you have achieved but also for who you are. Here’s to a few more thousand T20 runs,” read the caption of Sania’s post.

At a presser after the match against Bangladesh on Friday night, Malik said that he was sad to leave ODI cricket but happy that he would now get more time to spend with his family.

The 37-year-old tweeted about his decision to retire from the ODIs.

“I am retiring from one-day cricket,” said Malik, who was dropped after a disappointing World Cup featuring two ducks in three matches. I’m sad as I’m leaving the format I loved the most but this will allow me to spend more time with my family and concentrate on the Twenty20 World Cup next year,” Malik said as quoted by AFP.

He will continue to play the Twenty20 format, but he admitted it was an emotional moment to call time on his ODI career.

Malik’s decision came after a Pakistan win which was not enough to take the 1992 champions into the semi-finals.

Malik made his ODI debut in 1999 in a match against West Indies in Sharjah.

He has played 287 matches and scored 7,534 runs at an average of 34.55. He has nine ODI centuries to his name and was captain when Pakistan reached the final of the 2007 World T20 where they lost to India.

While he was no longer the skipper in 2009, Malik was still a key figure when Pakistan won the World T20 under the captaincy of Younis Khan.

He had a bad outing at the 2019 World Cup however, scoring just eight runs in three matches including back to back ducks against Australia and India.

He was not part of the playing XI for Pakistan’s final group game against Bangladesh on Friday but was given a guard of honour by his team mates at the end of it.

With AFP/IANS inputs