BPL 2023: Shoaib Malik gets guard of honour in his 500th T20 match

Veteran Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik reached yet another milestone recently. The all-rounder recently played the 500th T20 match of his career and became the third cricketer to achieve this feat when he took the field for Rangpur Riders in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Malik's teammates were aware of the veteran's fabulous achievement and decided to give him a guard of honour to appreciate everything that he has done for the sport.

Shoaib Malik receiving a guard of honour on his 500th T20 match #Cricket #BPL pic.twitter.com/bnNiVW4UtJ

— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) February 3, 2023

Malik gave a thumbs-up to his teammates while walking out on the field, where he was congratulated by the on-field umpire and his teammate Haris Rauf. Rangpur Riders faced Dhaka Dominators in the BPL, where Malik was unable to put on a show as he was dismissed for 7 off 5 balls.

The team, however, was able to still go on and win the game as they chased down the target of 131 runs in the final over. After the victory, Rangpur Riders sit in fourth place in the tournament table with 12 points to their name after nine matches.

Shoaib Malik has had a stellar career with Pakistan

Malik was the captain of the Pakistan team that lost the 2007 T20 World Cup to India. The 41-year-old has played in almost every T20 league in the world. In the very first edition of the Indian Premier League, Shoaib Malik was part of the Delhi Daredevils, now called the Delhi Capitals.

The veteran all-rounder has 12287 runs in 500 T20 matches. However, he does not have any plans to retire and is expected to reach 600 T20 matches in his stellar career. Since making his T20 debut back in 2005, Malik has been unable to score a century in the format.

With 500 T20 matches to his name, only Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard are ahead of Malik in the list of players with the most T20 appearances. Bravo sits at 556 caps, whereas Pollard tops the list with 614 matches.