Sana And Shoaib Malik Latest Birthday Celebration Pictures
Shoaib Malik is a Pakistani cricketer and a former captain of the Pakistan team. He was born in Sialkot, Punjab, of Pakistan on 1 February 1982 and is a batting all-rounder like former team mate and captain Shahid Afridi.
He bowls right-arm off-break and is a right-handed middle-order batsman. He is capable of hitting big shots and is good at rotating the strike. He is one of best T20 players for Pakistan and is also his side’s highest run getter in T20s. Before becoming involved seriously in cricket, Malik used to play tape-ball cricket in the streets during his childhood. He realised his potential only after joining Imran Khan’s coaching centres in Sialkot in 1993/94.
He originally played as a batsman, and then picked up bowling. He was selected for the Pakistan U-15 team after attending trials. He became a part of the squad through his bowling skills.
He currently plays for the Sialkot Stallions and also captains the side. He has previously played for Barbados Tridents, Gloucestershire, Delhi Daredevils, Gujranwala Cricket Association, Karachi Kings, Pakistan International Airlines, Hobart Hurricanes, Pakistan Reserves and Sialkot Cricket Association. Shoaib Malik made his ODI debut on 14 October 1999 against West Indies. He picked up two wickets in the debut match before his career drifted towards batting. His Test debut came on 29 August 2001, against Bangladesh where Pakistan won by an innings and 264 runs. His Test career took a sharp dip and he scored his first test century only 5 years after his debut. He made his T20I debut on the same day as counterpart Shahid Afridi on 28 August 2006 against England. Shoaib Malik’s rise to prominence as an all-rounder was marked with controversy when he was inspected in 2001 for his bowling action. In spite of his bowling drawbacks, Malik was a good batsman and used in five positions in tests.
He is the only cricketer to have played in all positions except 11th. Malik became a regular opener for Pakistan in tests and ODIs until there came a proper replacement.
His big-impression knock came in 2006 against Sri Lanka, when he scored 148 runs to save the match by batting for a whole day. All his test centuries (3 of them) have come in matches ending in a draw. He has gathered a total of nine ODI centuries, four of them coming against arch-rivals India. He has six fifties in T20s and is a reliable middle-order batsman.
