Summary Only seven other players apart from Shoaib Malik have this distinction
(Web Desk) – Pakistan announced its ICC Champions Trophy 2017 squad recently in which Shoaib Malik was retained in the team. With this inclusion, Malik becomes the first Pakistani to play the tournament six times.
Pakistan’s ICC Champions Trophy 2017 squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Fakhar Zaman, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Fahim Ashraf, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Shadab Khan.
Only seven players apart from Malik have this distinction, including Ricky Ponting (Australia), Rahul Dravid (India), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis (South Africa) and Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka).
The 35-year-old right-hand batsman played his debut Champions Trophy in Colombo 2002. He has played the 2004 and 2013 events in UK, 2006 in India and 2009 in South Africa.
#wisdom Too LIT to politic pic.twitter.com/N3J4m9wUW7
— Shoaib Malik (@realshoaibmalik) May 8, 2017
While in an interview with ICC, Malik said, “I am happy to be part of the Pakistan squad in a quality event like the ICC Champions Trophy. It is one of the most important events for Pakistan in recent times for a number of reasons. As the ODI squad, we need to re-establish ourselves as one of the top ODI sides by putting up strong performances against all teams.”
“If I look at the company of players who have played in the six events to date, I feel humbled and honoured as these gentlemen are some of the finest our sport has ever seen. This will help our global ranking and help us to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Strong performances are also important to boost the morale of our team and millions of well-wishers back home and around the world,” he added.
If I make a movie @TheFarahKhan will be the hero pic.twitter.com/5ekdi98a9G
— Shoaib Malik (@realshoaibmalik) April 20, 2017
India also announced its squad for the ‘mini World Cup’ after a delay. Yuvraj Singh will be playing the tournament after 11 years after missing it in 2009 and 2013.
India s ICC Champions Trophy 2017 squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Manish Pandey.
Moreover, Australian captain Steven Smith is playing his maiden ICC Champions Trophy and Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga needs nine wickets to complete 300 ODI wickets while playing his fourth event.
