At 39, Shoaib Malik is still going strong, and the seasoned Pakistani batsman credits his long international career to his obsession with fitness. Malik has played international cricket since the last century when some of his current teammates weren’t even born, but he’s still considered one of the fittest on the current Pakistani team to single-handedly win a game.
Malik showed his class again on Sunday with a staggering 18-ball-54 to set up Pakistan’s 72-run mauling from Scotland, their fifth straight win at the T20 World Cup. It was the joint fastest half-century of the tournament along with Indian opener KL Rahul with 18 ball 50 who also came against Scotland when Pakistan stopped Scots at 117 for six after scoring an impressive 189 for four.
Shoaib Malik is the player of the game! #WeHaveWeWill | #PAKvSCO | # T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/UfXZw7dBZ0
– Pakistani Cricket (@TheRealPCB) November 7, 2021
“… Well, to be honest, I would say that I am obsessed with seeing myself fit when I look at it in the mirror, and most of all, I still enjoy playing cricket and it helps with that too At the end of the day towards the team, ”Malik said at the press conference after the game. “I think if you want to stay fit you have to train every day, and that’s what I did.
“I’m not sure if I should play another year or two. Right now I’m in the middle of something very important and I’m not thinking about all of that. ”Pakistan led Group 2 in the Super 12 phase and will face Australia in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in Dubai on Thursday. “Of course we saw Australia how they played. You played really good cricket. We also. But of course it will be a tough challenge for both teams, ”said Malik after scoring his first half century at an ICC event since the 2009 Champions Trophy.
“It’s a different game, then I think the other thugs made plans and carried them out and just saw it as a different game. “… we have a few days in between until the semifinals so I’m sure the management will sit, our team will sit and they will definitely talk about it and make plans for the semifinals too,” he said.
Malik was not part of the original 15-person Pakistani squad for the T20 World Cup, but replaced Sohaib Maqsood, who was excluded due to a back problem. “I was playing in the Caribbean Premier League when they announced the first team and my name wasn’t there. Of course I felt bad. I was very disappointed.
“But I’ve seen a lot of teams that didn’t include my name. So if you’re not part of the World Cup team, it obviously hurts, ”he said. Malik had averaged 7.44 in 10 innings for the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League, initially missing out on the first squad selection.
“But as a professional cricketer or professional athlete, your goal is to talk to yourself and somehow get out of this frustration. “I got the opportunity because I played in the Caribbean Premier League and then I came back, I played a national tournament because I still enjoy going down and that keeps me going. “Overall, the atmosphere in the locker room is really nice and we just have to do our best,” added Malik.
