Karachi: Former Pakistan captains Ramiz Raja and Shoaib Malik engaged in a war of words after the former called for senior players to retire gracefully.
In a recent interview, Ramiz advised Malik and Mohammad Hafeez to retire gracefully for international cricket.
Malik came out with a sarcastic tweet, tagging Ramiz and Hafeez.
“Yes, Ramiz Raja Bhai agreed. Since all three of us are the end of our careers let’s retire gracefully together…I call and let’s plan this for 2022?” Malik wrote in his twitter handle.
Ramiz, who is now a reputed commentator, hit back: “Retire gracefully .. from what ?.. speaking my mind on Pak cricket? Sticking my neck out for Pak cricket? Wanting Pak cricket back at the top? No chance .. won’t be gracefully retiring from that ever Malik Sahib! as for ur post-retirement plans,” he tweeted.
“Would be tough to start commentating in 2022 as that would make you my age almost And talking of careers, don’t need a tutorial from u of all the ppl as history, which is a great teacher, would tell u that I retired while I was Captain of Pak team (sic).”
Former Pakistan Test pacer Aaqib Javed, though, opined that until Pakistan find suitable replacements, the two seniors should stick around.
“Honestly speaking, I didn’t see any batting talent in the recent Pakistan Super League. It is obvious that our middle order is brittle in white-ball cricket and tells me few names who we can use to replace Hafeez and Malik now,” Aaqib said on the GTV news channel.
“You can advise senior players to retire but first need to have batsmen to replace them. The sort of innings Hafeez and Malik played in the PSL it is clear they are still our best choices,” he added.
While Malik, 38, has been playing since 1999, 39-year-old Hafeez made his debut in 2003.
