I don't know what my captaincy had to do with Shahid Afridi's retirement: Shoaib Malik

A few days back, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi made a shocking revelation regarding his cricket career. The veteran revealed that there was a phase when he was on the verge of quitting his career due to the politics in the Pakistan cricket fraternity. 

Afridi claimed that during 2007, he decided not to play cricket anymore as Shoaib Malik was made the skipper of the Pakistan side. One of the most successful white-ball all-rounders on the Pakistani national side, Malik was appointed as the captain of the Green Army in 2007. 

“I decided not to play cricket anymore. Shoaib Malik had become the captain and there was a lot of politics going on within the team. He said you’re so worried about your own performance and worldly matters. Just compare your hardships to those of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), and you will realize that yours are nothing,” Afridi said.

The 39-year-old Shoaib finally broke his silence on the matter saying that he doesn’t know how his captaincy was related to Afridi’s retirement. However, Malik admitted that he was rushed into captaincy in 2007 and if he was as wise as now in 2007, he would have refused the offer.  

 If Shahid Afridi said I was made rushed into captaincy, he is absolutely right: Shoaib Malik

“I don’t know what my captaincy had to do with his retirement, I think he wrote about that in his book. I was asked the same question earlier and I said that if he said I was made rushed into captaincy, he is absolutely right. In a lot of interviews, I have said that if I was as wise in 2007 as I am today, I would have never accepted the offer,” Malik was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan. 

Malik became the fourth-youngest captain of the Men in Green in 2007 at the age of 25. However, his career was far from easy as the all-rounder was always involved in one or the other controversy. The 39-year-old is still trying to find a place for himself in the national team.

Malik made his debut for Pakistan against West Indies in 1999. Thus far, he has represented Pakistan in 287 One Day Internationals scoring 7534 runs and picking 158 scalps. The all-rounder also featured in 116 T20 Internationals and 35 Test matches scoring 2335 and 1898 runs respectively.