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Pakistan's middle-order batter Asad Shafiq, who was a crucial member of the 2016 side that reached the No. 1 ranking in Tests, announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
The 37-year-old Shafiq has announced his retirement from cricket after leading Karachi Whites to the National T20 Championship victory. Shafiq confirmed in a post-match press conference. "I am not feeling the same excitement and passion playing cricket and neither do I have the same fitness levels required for international cricket. Which is why I have decided to say goodbye to all cricket," Shafiq was quoted as saying by ICC. Asad represented his country in 77 Tests, 60 ODIs, and 10 T20Is. He was vital for Pakistan, particularly in the longest format, amassing 4660 runs, including 12 hundreds. The hitter made his final appearance for Pakistan against England in Southampton in 2020, but he continued to play domestic cricket in the hopes of returning to international cricket. Shafiq's pinnacle as a Test hitter came during the 2014-16 season, when he scored nearly 2000 runs in three calendar years. During this time, he scored six of his twelve red-ball centuries. Shafiq was dropped from the team after a slump in play during the 2018-19 season, and he was never picked again. "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," said Shafiq. Shafiq was part of the Misbah-ul-Haq squad that helped Pakistan reach the top of the MRF Tyres ICC Men's Test Team Rankings and still holds the record for hitting most centuries at No. 6 in Tests. (ANI)
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