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Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik does not have comeback on his mind ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Malik who has been critical of the Babar Azam-led Pakistan side in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023, said that his goal to break West Indies’ self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle’s record of most runs in T20 cricket (T20Is, domestic T20 cricket and franchise T20 cricket). Yet to retire from limited-overs in international cricket, Malik is open to representing Pakistan but he wants clarity from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“My goal is to score around 2000 runs to go past Chris Gayle to become the best player (highest run-scorer) in T20 cricket. I have never had any issues as far as fitness is concerned. I am open to playing for Pakistan but I need more clarity. However, T20 World Cup 2024 is not the reason why I am playing cricket. I am doing it because I enjoy playing the game,” the 41-year-old said at an event in Pakistan.
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Malik is second on the list of leading run-scorers in T20 cricket. He has scored 12,688 runs from 515 matches at an average of 36.25. He is yet to score a T20 century but has 79 half-centuries to his name. On the other hand, Gayle is on top with 14,562 runs from 463 games at an average of 36.22 including 22 centuries and 88 fifties. In order to go past Gayle, Malik needs to score 1,874 runs. However, Gayle has yet to hang his boots as well. Malik will need to score big runs to get anywhere near the Caribbean openers’ tally of runs.
Malik made his last T20I appearance against Bangladesh in 2021 where he did not get to bat but conceded 16 runs from two overs.
Malik is also Pakistan's fourth-highest run-scorer in T20Is. He has 2,435 runs from 124 matches at an average of 31.21 including nine half-centuries.
The Sialkot-born batting all-rounder recently shared his opinion that captaincy has affected Babar's batting. Pakistan struggled against big teams in the World Cup 2023 in India and was knocked out of semifinal race with just four wins from nine games.
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