Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik announced his retirement from Test cricket on Wednesday.
The announcement comes on the day Malik finished with career best figures of 4 for 33 to fold up England for 306, putting Pakistan in a strong position on Day Three of the ongoing third and final Test against Pakistan at Sharjah on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old only made a shock return in the longer format of the game after five years in the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi, smashing a career-best 245.
But since then he has made nought, two, seven, 38 and nought in the remaining five innings of the series, prompting him to call it a day.
"I am retiring from Test cricket after this match," Malik told reporters.
"The reason of my leaving Tests is not because of slump in form but it's because I want to give more time to my family and concentrate on the 2019 World Cup."
Malik married Indian tennis star Sania Mirza in 2010, a wedding widely publicised across Pakistan and India.
"I realised today that this is the right time to leave the place for youngsters and Pakistan have many talented players who can fill in," said Malik, who made his Test debut against Bangladesh in Multan in 2001.
In his 14-year career, Malik has played 35 Tests, scoring 1,898 runs with three centuries and eight half-centuries.
He has so far taken 29 wickets, with his best figures of 4-33 coming on Tuesday against England in Sharjah.
Image: Shoaib Malik of Pakistan during a nets session at the ICC Cricket Academy in Dubai
Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
