London, Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik has announced his retirement from One-Day International (ODI) cricket.
The veteran all-rounder announced his decision on Friday evening, soon after Pakistan ended their 2019 World Cup campaign with a dominant win over Bangladesh here.
Chasing a near impossible target to qualify for the semifinals, Pakistan thrashed Bangladesh by 94 runs in their final league game, but still crashed out of the tournament.
Malik took to social media soon after the match to announce his retirement.
“Today I retire from One Day International cricket. Huge Thank you to all the players I have played with, coaches I have trained under, family, friends, media, and sponsors. Most importantly my fans, I love you all,” Malik wrote on Twitter.
Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik announced his retirement from One-day International cricket on Friday soon after Pakistan ended their 2019 World Cup campaign at the Lord’s in London.
Pakistan failed to qualify for the semis even after beating Bangladesh by 94 runs in their final league game.
Soon after the end of the game, Malik announced his retirement, sharing the news on the social media.
“Today I retire from One Day International cricket. Huge Thank you to all the players I have played with, coaches I have trained under, family, friends, media, and sponsors. Most importantly my fans, I love you all,” Malik wrote in his tweet.
Malik did not have a memorable outing at the ongoing World Cup.
The 37-year-old failed to reach double figures with the bat and could only manage a single wicket in the three matches he played.
Malik was unable to find a place in the playing XI after Pakistan was thrashed by 89 runs by arch-rivals India at Manchester on June 16. He was replaced by Haris Sohail.
Following the defeat to India, the Pakistanis made a spirited attempt to make a comeback, going on to win their remaining 4 league fixtures o the trot.
However, it did not prove enough to seal a place in the semifinals as the results in the other matches did not go Pakistan’s way.
Malik, who made his ODI debut against the West Indies in Sharjah on October 14, 1999, has played a total of 287 matches in the 50-over format.
He has scored a total of 7534 runs in the ODI format at an average of 34.56 with a highest score of 143.
He has also taken 158 ODI wickets with a career best haul of 4/19.
