There are very few cricketers who are as polarising as Shoaib Malik. From his international debut as a young 17-year-old, to captaining the national side and to now becoming a veteran in the twilight of his career. Can the Sultan of Sialkot end his storied international career on a high?
He has played across 4 decades since making his debut in 1999.
He is currently the most experienced international cricketer in the world with a career spanning over 22 years.
He has represented Pakistan over 400 times.
He has captained Pakistan on multiple occasions and led the extremely successful Sialkot Stallions for many years, as they dominated T20 domestic cricket in Pakistan.
Shoaib Malik now finds himself as the veteran figure of Pakistani cricket.
The journey has by no means been an easy one for Malik. His ideal batting position has always been under scrutiny. He has batted at 5 different positions in Test cricket and is the only international batsman to have batted at all positions in ODIs apart from Number 11 - a strange world record for anyone to hold. Malik also had his bowling action questioned, as he was reported to and investigated by the ICC.
Despite the above issues, the thing which makes Malik's role as a "team mentor" so interesting, are the issues he had whilst he was officially the Pakistani team captain in the late 2000s and shortly after that.
Malik's leadership abilities came under severe criticism when he was the captain of the Pakistani team as a report from the team coach and manager claimed that Malik was "a loner, aloof and involved in his own little world". The coach and management claimed that they did not see any meaningful communication between players and captain "other than his five-minute talk during the team meetings".
Malik was also banned by the PCB in March 2010 for one year and fined for allegedly causing infighting within the team. However, shortly after that in May 2010 the ban was overturned and the fine was halved.
For the years that followed Malik's place in the Pakistani team seemed consistently under question, however, he continued to play an integral role in Pakistani cricket for years to come - especially as Pakistan sealed the 2017 Champions Trophy.
Despite being in and out of the squad on multiple occasions, Shoaib Malik now brings a certain sense of calm and maturity to the Pakistani changing room. As a relatively young team, you see many of the junior players looking up to Malik as a senior figure in the team, looking to benefit from his vast experience.
Shoaib Malik made his international debut in June 1999, 10 months before Shaheen Afridi was born in April 2000. Yet after Shaheen's bliteresting spell in the recent Pakistan vs India encounter during the 2021 T20 World Cup, Afridi credited Malik for the plan being the dismissal of KL Raul.
After the dismissal, Shaheen turned to Malik and confirmed: "Thank you. It’s not my wicket - it’s your wicket.”
The benefit which Malik's experience is having on the younger players cannot be argued with.
We saw Malik show great maturity throughout the T20 World Cup and with an average of 50 and SR of 182, Malik proved that he is still more than capable with the bat in hand at the international level.
Malik has never been everyone's favourite, however, his all-rounded abilities as a leader, with the bat, with the ball and in the field have won him an extremely loyal fan base as they now look for Malik to take on a new role in the twilight of his career. A role to guide the youngsters in the Pakistani team and carry them forward (metaphorically and literally if needed) into the future in a way that they can benefit from his vast experience.
This is a role that many doubted that Malik could fulfil in the late 2000s.
We saw another glimpse of this in the 2021 T20 World Cup Semi-Final.
After Hasan Ali dropped the crucial catch of Matthew Wade off the bowling of Shaheen Afridi, Malik was the first one to rush over to him, console him and more importantly re-focus on the task at hand.
On this occasion, the dropped catch, unfortunately, proved fatal, however, seeing the senior-most member of our team rallying the youngsters and reassuring them after making a mistake was excellent to see.
A player like Malik has always split the opinion of the fans. At one stage - under the leadership of Bob Woolmer and Inzamam-ul-Haq - he was earmarked as the future superstar captain of Pakistani cricket. Although he did briefly captain the national side - including during the first edition of the 2007 T20 World Cup in which Pakistan finished runner ups - many would argue he did not fulfil his leadership potential.
In the twilight of his career, is this now Malik's chance to fulfil that leadership role? He may not have the captaincy arm-band and most likely never will in the remainder of his international career. However, with his international career inevitably coming to an end, is he capable of passing on his knowledge and experience to the younger members of the team and providing a stronger future for Pakistani cricket? Also - how much longer does Malik realistically have left as an international cricketer to exercise this role and continue as a father figure in the Pakistani changing room?
He has played across 4 decades since making his debut in 1999.
He is currently the most experienced international cricketer in the world with a career spanning over 22 years.
He has represented Pakistan over 400 times.
He has captained Pakistan on multiple occasions and led the extremely successful Sialkot Stallions for many years, as they dominated T20 domestic cricket in Pakistan.
Shoaib Malik now finds himself as the veteran figure of Pakistani cricket.
The journey has by no means been an easy one for Malik. His ideal batting position has always been under scrutiny. He has batted at 5 different positions in Test cricket and is the only international batsman to have batted at all positions in ODIs apart from Number 11 - a strange world record for anyone to hold. Malik also had his bowling action questioned, as he was reported to and investigated by the ICC.
Despite the above issues, the thing which makes Malik's role as a "team mentor" so interesting, are the issues he had whilst he was officially the Pakistani team captain in the late 2000s and shortly after that.
Malik's leadership abilities came under severe criticism when he was the captain of the Pakistani team as a report from the team coach and manager claimed that Malik was "a loner, aloof and involved in his own little world". The coach and management claimed that they did not see any meaningful communication between players and captain "other than his five-minute talk during the team meetings".
Malik was also banned by the PCB in March 2010 for one year and fined for allegedly causing infighting within the team. However, shortly after that in May 2010 the ban was overturned and the fine was halved.
For the years that followed Malik's place in the Pakistani team seemed consistently under question, however, he continued to play an integral role in Pakistani cricket for years to come - especially as Pakistan sealed the 2017 Champions Trophy.
Despite being in and out of the squad on multiple occasions, Shoaib Malik now brings a certain sense of calm and maturity to the Pakistani changing room. As a relatively young team, you see many of the junior players looking up to Malik as a senior figure in the team, looking to benefit from his vast experience.
Shoaib Malik made his international debut in June 1999, 10 months before Shaheen Afridi was born in April 2000. Yet after Shaheen's bliteresting spell in the recent Pakistan vs India encounter during the 2021 T20 World Cup, Afridi credited Malik for the plan being the dismissal of KL Raul.
“I asked Shoaib [Malik], can I bowl fuller? He said to me, ‘Shaheen, don’t bowl full, just try to bowl length here, yeah?’ So I said, yeah, not too much swing first over, so let try to bowl the ball.”
“Shoaib is playing for 22 years for Pakistan. He’s played a lot of cricket – he knows everything because of every condition – he’s played in. And he is playing for Pakistan for so many years. He has the experience, and so that’s why I asked him which ball shall I bowl to Rahul.”
“Shoaib is playing for 22 years for Pakistan. He’s played a lot of cricket – he knows everything because of every condition – he’s played in. And he is playing for Pakistan for so many years. He has the experience, and so that’s why I asked him which ball shall I bowl to Rahul.”
After the dismissal, Shaheen turned to Malik and confirmed: "Thank you. It’s not my wicket - it’s your wicket.”
The benefit which Malik's experience is having on the younger players cannot be argued with.
We saw Malik show great maturity throughout the T20 World Cup and with an average of 50 and SR of 182, Malik proved that he is still more than capable with the bat in hand at the international level.
Malik has never been everyone's favourite, however, his all-rounded abilities as a leader, with the bat, with the ball and in the field have won him an extremely loyal fan base as they now look for Malik to take on a new role in the twilight of his career. A role to guide the youngsters in the Pakistani team and carry them forward (metaphorically and literally if needed) into the future in a way that they can benefit from his vast experience.
This is a role that many doubted that Malik could fulfil in the late 2000s.
We saw another glimpse of this in the 2021 T20 World Cup Semi-Final.
After Hasan Ali dropped the crucial catch of Matthew Wade off the bowling of Shaheen Afridi, Malik was the first one to rush over to him, console him and more importantly re-focus on the task at hand.
On this occasion, the dropped catch, unfortunately, proved fatal, however, seeing the senior-most member of our team rallying the youngsters and reassuring them after making a mistake was excellent to see.
In the twilight of his career, is this now Malik's chance to fulfil that leadership role? He may not have the captaincy arm-band and most likely never will in the remainder of his international career. However, with his international career inevitably coming to an end, is he capable of passing on his knowledge and experience to the younger members of the team and providing a stronger future for Pakistani cricket? Also - how much longer does Malik realistically have left as an international cricketer to exercise this role and continue as a father figure in the Pakistani changing room?
