Shoaib Malik joins elite T20 club

Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik joined an elite group of players after becoming the fourth batsman in the world to score 9,000 runs in the Twenty20 format.

Malik achieved the feat during Guyana Amazon Warriors' victory over Barbados Tridents in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The 37-year-old played an innings of 32 runs off just 19 balls as Warriors defeated Tridents by 30 runs and entered the finals of the competition.

Malik has now accumulated 9,014 runs in 356 T20 matches over the course of his career.

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West Indies’ flamboyant opener Chris Gayle is currently the leading run-scorer in T20s with 13,051 runs. Second on the list is former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum with 9,922 runs while West Indies’ Kieron Pollard is third with 9,757 runs.

Malik is not part of Pakistan’s T20I squad for series against Sri Lanka as he was granted No-objection Certificate (NOC) until October 12 to participate in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The Sialkot-born had announced his retirement from One-day International (ODI) cricket, after the conclusion of 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup in England and Wales.

Malik had admitted last year that he intended to quit one-day cricket after the World Cup and he followed through with that plan after Pakistan's 94-run win against Bangladesh, in their final group stage match, at Lord's. He will continue to play the Twenty20 format for the Men in Green, at least until next year’s T20 World Cup.