Pakistan cricketer Asad Shafiq announces retirement from all forms of cricket

Pakistan player Asad Shafiq has announced retirement from all formats of the game. He was Pakistan’s key middle-order batter in the red-ball format and had represented the green team in 77 test matches. Asad Shafiq will join the Pakistan’s selection panel. He will sign a paid contract with PCB soon. He played his last game for Pakistan in August 2020.

Pakistan’s middle-order batter revealed that he has lost all the excitement of playing the game and representing the national side. The game passion has forced him to announce his retirement from all formats of cricket. Shafiq was discarded from the Pakistan setup after 2020. He had played few innings for Pakistan in red-ball format notably a 137 at Gabba against Australia in the 4th test match in 2016.

The 37-year-old announced on Sunday. “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,” he told a press conference after leading Karachi Whites to the National T20 Championship title.

Asad Shafiq also confirmed that he was about to sign a contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board to be a paid national selector. “I have got the contract from the board and I am looking at it hopefully it will be processed soon.”

Asad said working as a national selector can be challenging for me. He formed the backbone of the Pakistan Test batting line-up from 2010 to 2020 with an average of 38.19 including 12 hundred and 27 fifties in 77 games played. Asad, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali and Misbah ul Haq formed the core of Pakistan’s Test batting team.

“After being dropped in 2020 I kept on playing domestic cricket for three years yes 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.”

He also said he was proud to have been part of the Pakistan cricket team under Misbah ul Haq which helped clean the image of Pakistan cricket. “After the spot-fixing scandal in 2010, it was a very difficult time for Pakistan cricket and I am happy I was part of that process where we won back the confidence of the people in. Our team,” said Asad.