Sharjah - The 33-year-old Malik said he wants to focus on family and 2019 World Cup.
Published: Tue 3 Nov 2015, 6:05 PM
Updated: Tue 3 Nov 2015, 10:03 PM
He bamboozled the England tail in the morning with three wickets to register his best career bowling spell of 4 for 33.
Was bamboozled himself later in the day when he fell for a duck to an inswinging ball from Jimmy Anderson, and then later in the evening he bamboozled the media by announcing his retirement from Test cricket.
Yes, Shoaib Malik threw a bombshell at the press conference when he walked in at the end of the day's play to announce that the current Test against England at Sharjah would be his last. "I'm taking retirement from Test cricket," the 33-year-old said.
Shortly after the press conference, Malik tweeted about his retirement on Twitter:
"I could have continued for another year or two but I thought it was the right time that I retired from this format (Tests) as I want to give time to my family. For me family comes first. I also want to focus on the 2019 World Cup. I want to play in that.
"Also I feel the Test team is more established compared to the other two formats. So I think in my place some youngsters can be groomed.
"This being my last Test match I would like to thank my family, the cricket board (PCB), my teammates and the supporting staff, the coaches and everyone. They have supported me."
Malik made a sort of a back door entry into the team after his exile from cricket for five years. His performances in Zimbabwe and the injury to Azhar Ali forced the PCB to repose faith in him.
He didn't let them down and scored a career-best 245 in his first appearance since the Edgbaston Test against England in 2010. Sadly, thereafter his scores dwindled with scores of 0, 2, 7 and 0 in his next four innings.
Malik has scored 1,898 runs at 35.14 in 35 Test appearances, and taken 29 wickets at 51.48.
clareto@khaleejtimes.com
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