Shoaib Malik (Punjabi, Urdu: شعیب ملک; pronounced [ʃoeːb məlɪk]; born 1 February 1982) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played for the Pakistan national cricket team and previously played for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He was the captain of the Pakistan national cricket team from 2007 to 2009. He made his One Day International debut in 1999 against the West Indies and his Test debut in 2001 against Bangladesh. With Pakistan, he won the 2009 World Twenty20 and the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
Malik was born into a middle-class Punjabi Rajput family in Sialkot.
His father Malik Faqueer Hussain, a modest shopkeeper who sold local footwear and supported his son's passion for cricket, died of throat cancer in 2006.
His brother Adeel Malik and nephew Mohammad Huraira are also cricketers.
Malik was married in 2002 to Ayesha Siddiqui from Hyderabad, India which ended in divorce on 7 April 2010.
Malik reportedly dated Miss India-turned-actress Sayali Bhagat, whom he met in 2008 when he was supposed to make his Bollywood debut, but they eventually separated when he announced his engagement to Indian tennis player Sania Mirza. Writing in 2008 for CricInfo, Andrew McGlashan called Bhagat his "real-life girlfriend." Both Malik and Bhagat, however, denied such reports, calling them publicity stunts to market their under-production film.
On 12 April 2010 he married Sania Mirza in a traditional Hyderabadi Muslim wedding ceremony at the Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, India, followed by Pakistani wedding customs. Their walima ceremony was held in Shoaib's native Sialkot, Pakistan. Their wedding received media and online attention worldwide. The couple announced their pregnancy via social media on 23 April 2018. Their first child, a Son, was born on 30 October 2018. In January 2024, Mirza's family announced that she had divorced from Malik a few months prior.
On 19 January 2024, Shoaib married Pakistani TV actress Sana Javed in a private Nikah ceremony at her home in Karachi.
He first played tape-ball cricket in the streets as a child. He began playing cricket seriously in 1994 when he attended one of Imran Khan's travelling coaching clinics in Sialkot at the age of 12. He began as a batsman, and developed his bowling later. He used to get into trouble with his family for playing cricket, as they wanted him to focus on his education. In 1996, Malik attended trials for the Under-15 World Cup. He was selected for the squad for his bowling.
Impressed by the success of Pakistan's premier off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, Shoaib Malik remodelled his bowling action in the late 1990s to reflect Saqlain's technique. He made his first-class debut for Gujranwala in 1997. Former Pakistan batsman Asif Mujtaba was particularly impressed by Malik's abilities and facilitated his move to the PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) domestic team, where he gained exposure alongside established players such as Wasim Akram, Moin Khan, and his idol Saqlain Mushtaq.
In 1999, Malik replaced an injured Saqlain in a domestic one-day match and performed well enough to earn selection for Pakistan's squad for the 1999–2000 Coca-Cola Champions Trophy in Sharjah.
In a One Day International (ODI) match against England in June 2001, Malik suffered a fractured right shoulder after falling awkwardly while attempting to take a catch.
In October 2004, Malik was reported for his bowling action but was eventually cleared later. In the intervening period, Malik was used mainly as a batsman. He was fined Rs10,000 and was also given a one-Test ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board after admitting to deliberately losing a Twenty20 match for the Sialkot Stallions against Karachi Zebras to knock Lahore Eagles out of the 2004–05 ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup. The inquiry concluded that the incident "damaged Pakistan's cricketing image and had shown disrespect to the crowd", but that "his actions were not part of any match-fixing with no financial implications, but were an immature attempt to express his disappointment at earlier decisions in the competition that he felt went against his side". PCB also declared the match void and Karachi Zebras were denied a place in the triangular phase of the ABN Amro Twenty20 Cup despite initially winning their Pool 'B' fixture against Sialkot Stallions.
During his Test career, Malik has batted at 5 different positions and has the unusual record of batting at every position except 11th in ODIs. Pakistan's problems in finding a reliable opening pair have led to Malik being used as an opener in Test and ODI matches. In Test cricket, he made a big impression with his match-saving innings against Sri Lanka in 2006, during which he batted for the whole day and finished with 148 runs not out. His bowling has been effective at times, especially in one-day cricket where his best bowling figures are four wickets for 19 runs (4/19) in addition to many 3-wicket hauls.
On the international stage Malik struggled in England. In 12 ODIs across four tours between 2001 and 2006 he scored 98 runs at an average of 8.16, with just two scores above 20, far below his career ODI average of 34.35. Of players who have played at least eight ODIs in England, Malik's is the furthest below his overall average.
His knock of 128 against India at Centurion in 2009 was later nominated to be one of the Best ODI Batting Performance of the year by ESPNcricinfo.
Following Inzamam-ul-Haq's resignation as Pakistan captain after the 2007 World Cup, Malik was put forward as one of the names for the captaincy along with Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf. After Younus Khan's rejection, Malik was the popular choice as a younger player and was seen to represent a fresh start after the Inzamam era.
He was named in the 'Team of the Tournament' by ESPNcricinfo for the 2007 T20I World Cup.