At 39, Shoaib Malik is still going strong and the veteran Pakistan batsman owes his long international career to his passion for fitness. Malik has been playing international cricket since the last century, when some of his current teammates were not even born, but still he is considered the fittest in the current Pakistan team, capable of winning matches single-handedly.
Malik on Sunday once again played a scintillating knock of 54 off 18 balls to help Pakistan convert Scotland into an innings of 72, their fifth successive win in the T20 World Cup. It was the joint-fastest half-century of the tournament with India’s opener KL Rahul’s 18-ball 50, which also came against Scotland, as Pakistan posted 189 for four, reducing the Scots to 117 for six. was stopped.
Shoaib Malik named player of the match!#WeHaveWeWill | #PAKvSCO | # T20 World Cup pic.twitter.com/UfXZw7dBZ0
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 7, 2021
“… to be honest, I would say that I have a self-obsession to see myself fit when I look at it in the mirror, and most importantly I still enjoy playing cricket, And it’s helping, as well, towards the team at the end,” Malik said in a post-match press conference. “I think if you want to stay fit, you have to train every day, and that’s what I do. I am doing
“I am not sure about playing another year or two. Right now I’m in the middle of something very important and not thinking about all that.” Pakistan top Group 2 in the Super 12 stage and will take on Australia in the T20 World Cup semi-final in Dubai on Thursday. “Of course we have seen Australia, the way they are playing. They are playing really good cricket. so are we. But of course it will be a tough challenge for both the teams,” said Malik after scoring his first half-century in an ICC event since the 2009 Champions Trophy.
“It’s another game, so I think other batsmen have made plans, executed them and took it as another game. “…we have a few days before the semi-finals, so I’m sure the management will sit down, our team is going to sit down and they will definitely talk and they will plan for the semi-finals as well.” he said.
Malik was not part of the opening 15-man Pakistan squad for the T20 World Cup but came in as a replacement for Sohaib Maqsood, who was ruled out due to a back problem. “I was playing in the Caribbean Premier League when they announced the first team, and I was not named. Of course I felt bad. I was very disappointed.
“But I have seen a lot of teams where my name was not there, so when you are not part of the World Cup squad, it hurts,” he said. Malik averaged 7.44 in 10 innings for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League, having initially missed out on selection in the starting squad.
“But your goal as a professional cricketer or a professional athlete is to talk to yourself and come out of that frustration somehow. “I had the opportunity because I was playing in the Caribbean Premier League, and then I came back, I played a domestic tournament because I still enjoy going on the field, and that’s what drives me,” Malik said. “Overall the atmosphere in the dressing room is very good and we need to keep doing our best.”
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