Pakistani all-rounder Shoaib Malik on Tuesday announced his retirement for Tests. He played 35 matches scoring 1860 runs.
According to espncricinfo.com, Malik said that the current Test match against England at Sharjah will be his last. In a shock announcement at the close of the third day’s play, an emotional Malik said that “time was right” to move on.
Malik made a dramatic return to the fray in the first Test at Abu Dhabi last month. Called in to the team as a late replacement for the injured Azhar Ali, he made a career-best 245 in his first appearance since the Edgbaston Test against England in 2010.
However, his scores have fallen away since that innings, with scores of 0, 2, 7 and 0 in his next four innings, the latest duck coming today as he was trapped lbw by a big in-swinger from James Anderson.
However, Malik has played his part with the ball in this match in particular. His off-spinners returned figures of 4 for 33 in 9.5 overs as England were bowled out for 306 in their first innings.