'You can compare mine with...' - Star Pakistan batter's opens up on retirement plans and fitness

'You can compare mine with...' - Star Pakistan batter's opens up on retirement plans and fitness (Image Source: Twitter)

Pakistan cricket team are revamping their setup by roping in a new chief for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PC), a chief selector for the new selection committee and a possible new head coach. Ever since Najam Sethi took over as the new chief of the PCB, the board has been working round the clock to get things sorted ahead of the 50-over World Cup set to take place in India later this year. 

To add more, the PCB is giving it their all to rope in Mickey Arthur as the new head coach of the Pakistani team, given that the team is not new to him as he coached the team between 2016 and 2018. On January 30, Monday, reports emerged claiming that Arthur might be roped in as the online coach of the team. 

Amidst all of this chaos, Shoaib Malik, the veteran Pakistani cricketer, opened up on his extreme fitness and claimed that he could compare himself to a 25-year-old. Further, the right-handed batter said that he would be playing cricket even though he is 40 years old as he explained his love for the sport. 

I’m gonna keep playing cricket: Shoaib Malik

Malik is currently a part of the Rangpur Riders franchise in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and in all likelihood, his return to T20Is looks highly impossible at present, hinting at a possible end of his international career. 

“Trust me, even though I’m the oldest in the team, you can compare my fitness with a 25-year-old. So, I guess what motivates me is I still enjoy coming to the ground and I still think that the hunger is there and until the time these two things are there, I’m gonna keep playing cricket and this is why I am not even thinking of retiring,” Malik was quoted as saying. 

“I would like to retire from internationals and complete cricket once and for all but right now I’m not even thinking about it and I am enjoying my cricket whenever I get an opportunity I do go and play. I have already retired from Tests and ODIs but in T20s, I’m still very much available and wherever I get my opportunity I will give my best shot,” he added.