Shoaib Malik born on 1 February 1982 in Sialkot and 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.

Malik was ranked second, behind teammate Shahid Afridi, in the ICC ODI all-rounder rankings in June 2008.

International career

He started his career as just an off spinner, and is now regarded as a useful bowling all-rounder with a batting average in the mid 30s in both Test and ODI cricket.

Malik is regarded as a flexible player. He is capable of hitting big shots but is also capable of rotating the strike with good placement. He has taken over 100 ODI wickets at an average under 35 and economy rate below 4.5. His bowling action has come under scrutiny (particularly his doosra) but he has had elbow surgery to correct this.

Captaincy

Following Inzamam-ul-Haq’s resignation as Pakistan captain after the 2007 World Cup, Shoaib Malik was put forward as one of the names for the captaincy along with Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf. After Younus Khan's rejection, Malik was the popular choice as a younger captain and was seen to represent a fresh start after the Inzamam era.

Notable performances

In Test cricket he made a big impression with his match-saving innings against Sri Lanka, in which he batted for the whole day and finished with 148 runs not out. His bowling has been effective at times, especially in one-day cricket where his best bowling figures are four wickets for 19 runs (4/19) in addition to many 3-wicket hauls.