Image Credit- Getty
The former middle-order batsman for Pakistan in Test
matches, Asad Shafiq, has declared his retirement from all forms of cricket and
is anticipated to become a national selector.
Shafiq, 37, was a key member of the Misbah-ul-Haq Test
team during the 2010s and helped them to the summit of the Test rankings in
August of that year. After leading the Karachi Whites team to the National T20
title and defeating Abbotabad in the Karachi final, he declared his retirement
on Sunday. Due to the absence of several players on Test duty, he has consented
to play three games for his department side, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines, in the
resurrected Patron’s Trophy, the premier department team competition. However,
in practice, the T20 final was his farewell.
Almost ten years after making his debut, Shafiq played
the final 77 Test matches for Pakistan in 2020. Since then, he had become a
regular on the domestic circuit, although he admitted after the championship
match that he wasn’t as enthusiastic about the match as he once was.
Shafiq, Misbah, Younis Khan, and Azhar Ali established
a middle order that served as the cornerstone of Pakistan’s prosperity for the
most part, especially during their years in exile in the United Arab Emirates.
With 4660 runs at an average of 38.19 by the end of his career, he was close to
the mid-40s throughout his finest periods. That resulted in him serving as a
link between the engine room and the fragile lower order for most of his
Test matches at No. 6. Famously, he has the most Test hundreds from that
position; he went past Sir Garry Sobers’ record after one of his most memorable
centuries, a 137 at the Gabba that nearly took Pakistan home in a mammoth chase
of 490.
“I’m no longer feeling that excitement and
passion that I did when I first started playing the game,” he said.
“I wanted to thank all those who have helped me through my career.
“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.”