The 2010 Pakistan tour of England is remembered for the inglorious exit of three of the Pakistan players — Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt. Much before the tainted Lord’s Test that marked the end of the tour, there nearly ended midway in the series another Pakistani Test career. Unimpressive returns in the tours of New Zealand, Australia and in the first two Tests of the England series meant that Shoaib Malik was dropped after playing 32 Tests for his nation in the decade since his debut in 2001.
One-day chances, though, kept coming his way. Whether it was an unshakeable trust in his abilities, or, simply, a lack of alternatives, the Pakistan selectors kept coming back to Malik. But, the returns were disappointing. Twenty-six innings between 2010 and 2013 yielded 415 runs at an average bordering 19 and he found himself out of the ODI side as well after the disastrous 2013 Champions Trophy campaign.
Malik was part of the 2014 World T20 team but his 54 runs in the tournament did not help his cause and he was subsequently dropped. For a while then, it seemed Malik could become a T20 mercenary and ply his trade around the cricketing globe in the many T20 leagues. In the last two seasons, he excelled with the bat in the Caribbean Premier League but was insipid in the Big Bash League, where his bowling appeared to work better. In any case, the balance that he brought to teams with his batting, useful bowling and athletic fielding and his experience kept him as an appealing prospect for teams.
The Return of Shoaib Malik
He figured in the preliminary 30 for the 2015 World Cup, but failed to make the final cut. A return to Pakistan colours came during the home series against Zimbabwe. Although he was lacklustre in the two T20Is, he marked his ODI return with a blistering 112 off 76 balls. In the following ODI series in Sri Lanka, he scored at a strike-rate of 100 or greater in all of the five matches and remained not-out in three. Malik’s rich vein of form continued in the Pakistan domestic T20 tournament where he played many a valuable knock for Sialkot.
In the tour of Zimbabwe that followed, Malik excelled in both the T20Is and the ODIs and the consistency shown was rewarded with the ultimate prize — a call-up to the Test team after five years.
The setting of the first Test against England in 2015 could not have been more beneficial to Malik. The venue was Abu Dhabi, where Pakistan had always done well. The pitch was flat, and the opponents were not very threatening. A 50 would have marked a good return, a 100 a memorable one. Malik passed all of these, batted on for 420 deliveries and ended up with a career-best 245. A single innings that produced more runs than his last 12 innings collectively did. A single innings that raised his career average by a clear 4 points. Malik was truly back, and in some style.
The return of Shoaib Malik is as much a story of the Pakistan selectors’ faith in him as it is of his abilities and perseverance. With him being 33, and with Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan around, the selectors could have well shut the door on his career. It is commendable that they decided to back him, and it can be said that Pakistan cricket is already reaping the rewards.
