'I have always received a warm welcome in Karachi' :Sania Mirza

India tennis star and Pakistan cricketer Shoiab Malik’s wife Sania Mirza praised the people of Karachi for their hospitality. Mirza, who is an Indian by nationality tied the knot to Malik in 2010. While many people speculated that the Indian Tennis player may be targeted based on her nationality, Mirza said she has been gracefully accepted by the people of Pakistan.

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Talking to journalists following her husband’s launch of a perfume brand, Mirza said that Karachi people have always welcomed her with open arms. The Tennis star also spoke about her retirement plans and said she wants to retire after winning two Grand Slams. “I want to win two more grand slams before retirement.”

Malik, on the other hand, is still going strong and said there is plenty of cricket left in him. “I am not thinking about retirement at all,” he said. And this is not just my decision, the team captain also wants me in the team. I did discuss plans with him and Babar told me that he wants me so that he could prepare replacements and develop new players,” the former captain said.

Malik is ageing like a fine wine. During the showpiece event in UAE, he blazed to an 18-ball half-century against Scotland. That knock was a timely reminder for his critics that the 39-year-old is still one of the best in the Pakistan team.

In a career spanning 21 long years, the all-rounder has achieved a lot and has seen lots of ups and downs. Malik though has one regret of not winning the 50-Over World Cup. “The 50-overs world cup was something that I wanted to win but I couldn’t. I’ve been part of T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy wins, but couldn’t win the one-day World Cup,” he said.

Malik took retirement from the ODI format after the 50-over World Cup in 2019.