Pakistan’s middle-order batter Asad Shafiq has announced his retirement on all formats of the game.
Asad Shafiq retires from International cricket
The 37-year-old Pakistan batter Asad Shafiq announced his retirement decision at the post-match conference after the Karachi Whites won the National T20 Cup title on Sunday.
The batter hasn’t played in International cricket since 2020 and has revealed that he lacked motivation as the major reason for his retirement decision. His last International match was from Pakistan’s tour of England in 2020.
“I am not feeling the same excitement and passion playing cricket and neither do I have the same fitness levels required for international cricket. Which is why I have decided to say goodbye to all cricket,” said Shafiq at the press conference.
The batter made his international debut in 2010 and played across all three formats. He has played 77 Tests, 60 ODIs, and 10 T20Is across and amassed 6188 runs across all formats.
He was impressive in his test career and was one of the most dependable batters of the side in all conditions. During 2014-16, he smashed six Test centuries and saw a dip in his form during the 2018-19 season.
“After being dropped in 2020 I kept on playing domestic cricket for three years in the hope of getting another crack at the Pakistan team. But before the start of this season, I had decided this would be my last season because I felt that closing in on 38 years of age, this was time to retire instead of people telling me to step down,” he said.
Shafiq was one who played a major part in cleaning Pakistan’s Cricket world after the spot-fixing scandal that shook the cricket in Pakistan in 2010. He worked with Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, and Younis Khan on the mission.
“After the spot-fixing scandal in 2010, it was a very difficult time for Pakistan cricket and I am happy I was part of that process where we won back the confidence of the people in our team.”
After his retirement announcement, he’ll be preparing for the role to be as a selector. “I have got the contract from the board and I am looking at it and hopefully it will be processed soon,” he concluded.
He announced his retirement ahead of Pakistan’s Two-match test series against Australia. They will be playing their first Test starting on December 14 at Perth Stadium.
