Pakistan Captaincy
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 Younis Khan's rejection, Malik was the popular choice as a younger player and was seen to represent a fresh start after the Inzamam era.
Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, was a strong advocate of Malik's case to become captain; in Woolmer's opinion Malik was "the sharpest tactical tack among his group ... a real presence on the field". Former skipper Imran Khan also backed Malik for the role, stating "He appears to have a good cricket brain and could turn out to be a very good choice for Pakistan cricket". Malik was appointed captain on 19 April 2007 by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), his experience considering his relatively young age and consistent performances were cited as other reasons for his appointment. At the age of just 25, he was Pakistan's fourth youngest captain.
In Malik's first series as captain, Pakistan defeated Sri Lanka 2–1 in an ODI series in Abu Dhabi. His next assignments were home Test and ODI series against South Africa, which Pakistan lost 1-0 and 3-2 respectively. 3-2 was the score in favour of India when Pakistan subsequently played an ODI series against their arch-rivals. Malik hit 89 and took three wickets in the final match, which Pakistan won by 31 runs.
Malik's captaincy lasted two years. A report by the coach and manager criticised his leadership, claiming that Malik was "a loner, aloof and involved in his own little world, which is OK but not when the team required a fully committed captain We do not see any meaningful communication between players and captain other than his five-minute talk during the team meeting". Younis Khan took over as captain on 27 January 2009 after a poor performance against Sri Lanka saw Malik step down. In his two-year tenure as captain, Malik lead his country in two Tests, losing two and drawing one, and 36 ODIs, of which Pakistan won 24, and 17 T20Is, winning 12.
Read more about this topic: Shoaib Malik