Cricket Cricket

'Favouritism se barbad hua ek aur career' - Fans react as Pakistan batter Asad Shafiq retires from all forms of cricket

Asad Shafiq recently led Karachi Region Whites to clinch the title of the National T20 Cup 2023, defeating Abbottabad Region in the final of the tournament.

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Mathew K
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Asad Shafiq, National T20 Cup (File Photo: Twitter)

Asad Shafiq, National T20 Cup (File Photo: Twitter)

In a recent piece of news, former Pakistan batter Asad Shafiq finally announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Meanwhile, a few media reports have learned that he is likely to join the setup of the Pakistan Cricket Board as a national selector to work alongside the recently appointed chief selector Wahab Riaz.

He made his last appearance in professional cricket for Karachi Whites in the final of the recently concluded National T20 Cup, the domestic T20 tournament in Pakistan. Shafiq led his side to clinch the National T20 Cup title after defeating Abbottabad Regio in the summit clash of the tournament.

Karachi Whites defeated Abbottabad by 9 runs to win the title of the National T20 Cup 2023, thanks to the brilliant bowling heroics of Shahnawaz Dahani, who scalped 3 wickets at the cost of just 16 runs in his quota of 4 overs.

“This was time to retire instead of people telling me to step down.” – Asad Shafiq on his retirement

Coming back to Asad Shafiq, the former star number-6 batter in the Tests, he also spoke to journalists during the post-match press conference after Karachi won the National T20 Cup final against Abbottabad.

“I'm no longer feeling the excitement and passion that I did when I first started playing the game. I wanted to thank all those who have helped me through my career,” said Shafiq during the post-match press conference while speaking on his retirement.

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

Speaking of Asad Shafique’s illustrious career for Pakistan, he featured in 77 Tests and 60 ODIs at the highest level of the game. In 128 innings of the 77 Tests, he played, the 37-year-old scored 4660 runs with an average of 38.19, hitting 12 centuries and 27 half-centuries.

Here’s how fans reacted after Asad Shafiq announced his retirement:

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