Shoaib Malik has announced his retirement from Test cricket. It is interesting as it was in the ongoing series that he made his comeback into the Test side after so long. The ongoing Test match between Pakistan and England will be his last. In the 1st Test match of this series, Malik scored a double century, justifying his comeback but then failed miserably after that, scoring 2 ducks in the series.
I have decided to retire from Test Cricket, will post my retirement blog soon. Please remember me in your Duas, love you all & thank you
— Shoaib Malik (@realshoaibmalik) November 3, 2015
Just after announcng his retirement, he had a Q/A session on twitter with his fans.
Sorry been quite for a while, had a lot on my mind since I was recalled for the Test series. How about we all talk in 1 hour or so #AskMalik
— Shoaib Malik (@realshoaibmalik) November 3, 2015
On being asked about the reason, Malik didn’t talk about the performance but added that he wants to spend more time with his family. Also, he said that he wants to concentrate on ODI cricket and play 2019 World Cup for Pakistan. Malik has been instrumental for Pakistan in ODIs after making his comeback earlier this year.
Malik mentioned about his timing of retirement and said this is a perfect time for it and several youngsters are coming up and my retirement will make a place available for them, which will take Pakistan’s cricket forward.
Malik batted at first down during the series, a position where Azhar Ali has been batting for sometime now. Now that he has retired, Ali will be back at 3 and Shan Masood will open the innings.