Shoaib Malik Becomes the First Player to Play 100 T20I Matches

Pakistan’s veteran batsman Shoaib Malik became the first player to play 100 T20I matches. Malik who made his T20I debut against England in 2006 is playing his hundredth game against Australia.

Pakistan former skipper Shahid Afridi played 99 matches in the shortest format. MS Dhoni is the third player with most caps (90 games) in the T20I.

In fact, Malik became the third batsman to reach the landmark of 2000 T20I runs. The right-hander had reached his milestone in the previous match against Zimbabwe.

The experienced campaigner scored a fine unbeaten 37 off 24 balls to give the finishing touches to Pakistan innings.

However, Malik didn’t have the best of outings in his 100th appearance for Pakistan. The right-hander was unfortunately run out after scoring 13 runs.

In fact, the whole Pakistan batting line-up struggled to get going, as they are tottering for 108 for seven in their innings.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Mohammed Hafeez who is also playing in the ongoing series has played 83 T20I matches.

India’s limited-over deputy Rohit Sharma has featured in 81 matches for the Men in Blue. In fact, the Indian opener is just 51 runs away from the feat of 2000 T20I runs.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik is one of the most experience T20I batsmen. He has done a fine job in the middle-order for the Men in Green.

Furthermore, Malik had clarified that the next year World Cup would be his swansong tournament in the 50-overs format.

However, the all-rounder has promised to keep playing the T20I form of the game if he remains at the top of his fitness.