Shoaib Malik

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shoaib Malik

• He partly grew up in Sialkot and partly in Karachi.

• As a child, he used to play cricket with a tape ball in the streets.

• Although he was more inclined towards hockey, his father wanted him to become a cricketer.

• Shoaib started taking cricket seriously in 1993 after he joined Imran Khan’s Pepsi travelling coaching clinics in Sialkot.

• In an interview, Shoaib revealed that he often used to put a cricket kit in his school bag and go to play cricket matches instead of school. He disclosed that he used to do so as his sisters wanted him to focus more on his studies and he received scolding from them for playing cricket.

• Initially, he began playing as a batsman and later developed his bowling action.

• In 1996, Shoaib attended the trials for the Under-15 World Cup in Lahore and was picked up by coach Noman Shabbir for his impressive off-spin bowling action.

• In his domestic cricket debut for the Gujranwala team against Karachi, he picked up 5 wickets.

• He made his List A and First Class match debut in 1997. In the same year, he was selected for the Pakistan A team.

• A year later, he played for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) team in the Wills Cup tournament and in the semifinal match, he claimed two wickets.

• He has played several matches for the Sialkot Stallions and has won the National T20 Cup 8 times.

• Impressed with his performance at the domestic level, Wasim Akram and Moin Khan suggested the Pakistan Cricket Board to include him in the Pakistan National squad.

• He played his debut ODI match in 1999, after replacing an injured Saqlain Mushtaq.

• During his debut Test match against Bangladesh at Multan in 2001, Shoaib took two wickets.

• Shoaib scored his first ODI century for Pakistan against West Indies at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates on 15 February 2002. He scored 111 (not out) runs in the match.

• On 27 April 2002, During a match between Pakistan and New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Pakistan, Malik scored 115 runs.

• In the calendar year 2004, he scored 895 runs in One Day Internationals, marking his highest number of runs in a calendar year.

• Shoaib scored his highest ODI score of 143 runs against India at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 24 July 2004.

  

• On 24 October 2004, he scored his first half-century in Test cricket by making 59 runs against Sri Lanka. He scored his maiden Test century in 2005-2006, during the second innings of the first test of Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka by scoring 148 (no-out runs).

• In 2006, 108 runs for Pakistan against India at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, Pakistan.

• In 2007, he represented Pakistan at the ICC World Cup.

• Shoaib scored his first T20 International half-century on 17 September 2007 during a match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa. He scored 57 runs in the match.

• Shoaib played his debut IPL match for Delhi Daredevils in the 2008 season. In the season, he claimed 2 wickets and scored 52 runs in 7 matches.

• During the 2009-2010 Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka, he scored 134 runs in the second innings.

• During the 2009 Champions Trophy, Malik scored 128 runs against India at SuperSport Park, Centurion, South Africa.

• He was a part of the 2009 ICC T20 World Cup-winning Pakistan squad. He played in all the matches of the tournament and claimed 1 wicket. His total score in the tournament was 144 runs including 24 runs (not out) in the final match of the World Cup.

  

•  In the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy, he scored 126 runs against India.

• Malik scored 57 runs not out against India at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, India on 25 December 2012.

• On 30 November 2015, he made his highest score of 75 runs against England at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

• In 2017, Shoaib was a part of the Pakistan squad that won the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in England.

• In the World Cups, he scored 1782 runs in 42 matches at an average of 46.89. His maximum score was against India. He has won 19 Man of the Match awards in the World Cups. In his last ODI match on 16 June 2019 against India at Old Trafford Stadium, in Manchester, England, he was out for a duck.

• On 19 April 2007, Shoaib Malik was announced as the captain of the Pakistani team in all three formats by the Pakistan Cricket Board. He was 25 years old at that time and became the fourth youngest Pakistani player to become a captain. He captained Pakistan in 3 tests, 36 ODIs, and 17 T2oIs. As a result of team politics and losing the trust of fellow team-mates like Mohammad Yousuf, Younis, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar, and Abdul Razzaq, he was released from the duties of the captain on 27 January 2009. He was even considered a negative person in the Pakistani dressing room.

• He took his retirement from Test Cricket in 2015. While announcing his retirement, he said,
  

  The reason of my leaving Tests is not because of slump in form but it’s because I want to give more time to my family and concentrate on the 2019 World Cup. I realised today that this is the right time to leave the place for youngsters and Pakistan have many talented players who can fill in.”

• Under his captaincy, Sialkot Stallions (Faysal Bank T20 Cup team) made a record 8 domestic T20 titles.

• On 2 July 2018, he became the first male cricketer to play 100 T20Is.

• On 13 September 2017, Malik became the highest run–scorer in T20I for Pakistan.

• His bowling action is very similar to that of Saqlain Mushtaq.

• In 2021, Shoaib Malik launched his signature perfume ‘All Rounder.’

  

• He has made cameo appearances in the web series Baarwan Khiladi (2022; streamed on the OTT platform Tapmad TV) and the Pakistani murder mystery film Chakkar (2022).

• He has also appeared on various TV shows as a cricket analyst.

• In 2022, he appeared as a host in ARY Digital’s adventure-action reality game show The Ultimate Muqabla 2. Many Pakistani celebrities participated in the show as contestants.

  

• In the same year, he, along with Sania Mirza, hosted the show The Mirza Malik Show, where they interviewed celebrities. The show was streamed on the OTT platform UrduFlix.

  

• Shoaib and Sania also appeared in episode 4 of The Couple Show Season 2. The show aired on Aaj Entertainment.

  

• In an interview, Shoaib revealed that he loved flying kites in childhood and his father used to buy him a kite for every cricket match that he played.

• He has endorsed many popular brands like Gillette, Toni & Guy, and Pakistan’s Population Welfare Ministry.

• Shoaib Malik credits his success to his sisters. In an interview, while talking about his sisters, he said,
  

  Meri jo dono badi behenein hai wo job karti thi aur unhone ghar ke liye bohot kiya. Agar wo nahi hoti toh main cricket nahi khel sakta tha.”

• He has been featured on the cover of the lifestyle magazine OK Pakistan.

  

• Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza received a Golden Visa from the United Arab Emirates in July 2021.

• In 2022, there were rumours about Shoaib and Sania’s separation as the couple was hardly spotted together. However, they did not respond to the rumours. Later, Shoaib changed his Instagram bio from “Proud husband to a Superwoman @MirzaSania” to “Father to One True Blessing,” which further fueled the rumours. Shoaib also unfollowed Sania on the platform.

• In January 2024, Sania’s Instagram Post saying ‘Marriage is hard. Divorce is hard.’ speculated divorce rumours. The rumours came to an end after Shoaib posted a picture on his Instagram from his wedding with Sana Javed. Soon, Sania’s father disclosed that Sania took ‘Khula’ from Shoaib, a few months back.

  

• Later in the same month, Sania Mirza’s father confirmed that Sania had decided to take ‘Khula,’ a process where the wife initiates divorce. Khula, similar to talaq, involves a waiting period but it specifically refers to the wife’s decision to end the marriage. ^[9]Mint

• Shoaib reportedly cheated on Sania as a Pakistani journalist named Naeem Hanif once claimed that Shoaib dated Sana while still being married to Sania; as per Hanif, Shoaib and Sana first met on the sets of a reality show following which they dated for three years. ^[10]The Economic Times