SHOAIB MALIK

SHOAIB MALIK (Urdu: شعیب ملک) (born 1 February 1982 in Sialkot) is a Pakistani cricket player. He made his One-Day International debut in 1999 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 2001 against Bangladesh. He has taken over 100 ODI wickets, and has a batting average in the mid 30s in both Test and ODI cricket. His bowling action has come under scrutiny (particularly his doosra) but he has had elbow surgery to correct this. Malik was ranked second, behind teammate Shahid Afridi, in the ICC ODI all-rounder rankings in June 2008.^[1] In March 2010, Malik received a one-year ban from international cricket from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB); the ban was overturned two months later.^[2]
Following Inzamam-ul-Haq's resignation as Pakistan captain after the 2007 World Cup, Malik was put forward as one of the names for the captaincy along with Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf. After Younis Khan's rejection, Malik was the popular choice as a younger player and was seen to represent a fresh start after the Inzamam era.
In 2008, media reports in Pakistan surfaced that Malik has married Ayesha Siddiqui, a woman from Hyderabad, India, on 3 June 2002. Malik denied these allegations saying his marriage plans with the woman did not go through, because of a lack of consensus between both the families.^[29] In April 2010, Siddiqui's family released Shoaib-Ayesha 'marriage' certificate (Nikahnama).^[30] On April 2, 2010, Malik said he plans to sue Siddiqui's family for "indulging in character assassination".^[31][32][33] On April 7, 2010 Malik confirmed his marriage with Siddiqui and signed the Talaq (divorce) papers.^[34]
Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, was a strong advocate of Malik's case to become captain; in Woolmer's opinion Malik was "the sharpest tactical tack among his group ... a real presence on the field".^[16] Former skipper Imran Khan also backed Malik for the role, stating "He appears to have a good cricket brain and could turn out to be a very good choice for Pakistan cricket".^[17] Malik was appointed captain on 19 April 2007 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), his experience considering his relatively young age and consistent performances were cited as other reasons for his appointment.^[17] At the age of just 25, he was Pakistan's fourth youngest captain.^[16]