Shoaib Malik hints at taking a retirement call closer to T20 World Cup 2020

Shoaib Malik, the veteran all-rounder from Pakistan marked a great comeback in the recently-concluded T20I series against Bangladesh. Earlier, there were some voices about him taking retirement soon from T20I format but that never happened. However, now the veteran himself has come up saying about the same in an interview.

The 38-year-old has been in and out from the national team in the last 12 months. Malik had a poor stint in the World Cup 2019 due to which he was dropped from Pakistan’s team. And when he got a chance to prove his worth in the T20I series against the ‘Tigers’, he came out with flying colours. He played a match-winning knock of 58 runs in the innings that he got to play.

There is no doubt about the fact that Malik is moving in towards the end of his hunger for runs is still the same that he had during the early phase of his career. He has already bid adieu to 50-over format and Test cricket but is yet to call his time off from the shorter format.

Shoaib Malik opens up about his retirement

In an interview, Shoaib Malik said that the World Cup is still far and he is currently focussed on the upcoming edition of Pakistan Super League and series for his national team. As per him, everything depends on his fitness around the mega-event and that will decide his future as an international cricketer.

“The World Cup is still far off and I think right now my focus is on the Pakistan Super League and coming matches for Pakistan. When I get closer to the World Cup I will see what to do. I will have to see my fitness and position in the national side closer to the World Cup than I will make a decision on final retirement,” Shoaib Malik said as quoted by India Today.

Shoaib Malik has donned national jersey in 35 Test, 287 ODIs and 113 T20Is in which he has managed to gather more than 10,000 runs across all the formats with 99 wickets under his belt.

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