By Sajid Sadiq, Chief Editor, PakPassion
In an interview in June 2014, a somewhat exasperated Shoaib Malik spoke about how he was not enjoying playing for Pakistan. The comments which sounded ominous were simply a reflection of his personal frustration at that time as the former Pakistan captain and well-respected all-rounder with an impressive international record was finding it difficult to re-establish himself in any Pakistan playing eleven.
This was the year after the 2013 Champions Trophy debacle where Pakistan had ended at the bottom of the table and there was open opposition to Malik’s inclusion in any Pakistan ODI side in the future. And it appeared that the Sialkot-born all-rounder’s ODI career was all but over as he was ignored for selection completely in 2014. The only realistic way he could find himself serving Pakistan was by inclusion in the T20I side and there was a real danger that Shoaib Malik was on his way out.
