Shoaib Malik creates a World record in T20I cricket

Pakistan have been on a winning spree in the T20 Internationals of late. After clean sweeping Australia in the three-match series, they have already won the contest against New Zealand with one more game still to go. Along with their batting and bowling, the fielding has been up to the mark for Pakistan and none other than the most experienced player Shoaib Malik is leading the way for them.

Malik has the most number of catches to his name in the shortest format now as he surpassed the likes of Suresh Raina, Ross Taylor and AB de Villiers with his exquisite fielding effort at long-on. More often than not, the veteran is fielding at the boundary line as he is one of the fittest cricketers in the team and never lets down his skipper with his fielding. Very rarely does he drops the catch coming his way.

Rather, the 37-year-old has taken some screamers over the last five matches played by Pakistan. Recently, during the second T20I against the Kiwis, Shoaib Malik dived ahead to grab one of the best catches to send back Colin de Grandhomme to give his team an edge.

Who else are there in the list?

Shoaib Malik currently leads the way in the T20Is with 47 catches in 107 matches and he surpassed De Villiers and Taylor during the Australia series. However, one would argue that he has played the most number of games when compared to the others. But the effort he puts on the field can’t be undermined.

While De Villiers and Taylor are the next on the list with 44 catches in 78 and 83 matches respectively, Suresh Raina, one of India’s best fielders, is placed fourth. He has taken 42 catches in 78 T20Is so far with the catch per innings ratio of 0.538. David Warner, David Miller and Martin Guptill follow Raina and despite leading the charts, Malik, interestingly, has the lowest catch per innings ratio among the top ten.

Here’s the list of players with most number of catches in T20Is:

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