Former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has criticized his former teammate Shoaib Malik for his “selfishness”. The former cricketer made the comments after Malik’s display in the PSL 2024 clash between Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans on Sunday (February 18).
Karachi Kings opened their PSL 2024 campaign with a crushing 55-run defeat at the hands of Multan Sultans in Multan. When asked to bat first, the Multan-based team posted a grand total of 185 for 2 in the allotted 20 overs. Captain Mohammad Rizwan (11) failed to get going but his team posted a big total thanks to half-centuries from Dawid Malan (52) and Reeza Hendricks (79*).
Khushdil Shah (28* off 13) also came up with a useful cameo with the bat. In response, Karachi Kings could only score 130 for 8 in the allotted 20 overs. Shoaib Malik was the top scorer for the Karachi-based team, scoring 57 off 35 balls with the help of five fours and two sixes. Apart from him, no other Karachi batsman could score more than 30 runs, while only three players could reach double figures.
Abdul Razzaq criticizes Shoaib Malik:
While Shoaib Malik top-scored with the bat for Karachi Kings, his efforts were not enough to impress Abdul Razzaq. The former Pakistan cricketer stated that a player should always play for the team and also said that he expected Malik to play with a better strike rate.
“A player is someone who plays for a team,” Razzaq said, sharing his views on Geo News’ show ‘Harna Mana Hai’.
Meanwhile, the match was Malik’s first appearance in competitive cricket since he abruptly ended his Bangladesh Premier League campaign last month. The former Pakistan captain faced allegations of match-fixing for bowling three consecutive no-balls in an over while playing for Fortune Barishal against Khulna Tigers.
He had to leave the competition midway before Bangladeshi media claimed that the franchise had cut ties with Malik. However, Malik denied the reports and clarified that he had to leave BPL due to a previous media engagement in Dubai.
