Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, who believes that friendship should be the foundation of a relationship between parents and children, had once taunted his father Malik Faqir Hussain for having 11 children. During his appearance on A Sports‘ show named Aik Aur Cup earlier this month, Malik had revealed how his father was married twice.
Advertisement
Malik’s father used to run a sports shop in Karachi, and he was the one who always wanted his son to become an athlete. With one of Malik’s stepbrothers representing Pakistan in hockey, his father wanted one of his children from his second marriage to also excel in the field of sports.
“Jo second marriage hai walid sahab ki, usme se hum paanch behen-bhai hai. Teen behane hai, teeno badi hai, chautha mera number hai aur mujhse chhota ek bhai hai. Aur jo pehle wali shaadi hai, Mashallah, unmein se koi unke cheh bacche hai. Toh 11 bacche, maine bola, ‘Walid sahab, hor koi kamm nahin si labheya’ [From his second marriage, we are five siblings. All three sisters are elder than me, I am the fourth one and there is another younger brother. From his first wedding, he has six children. I taunted my father by asking him, ‘Didn’t you find anything else to do?’],” Malik said.
Malik’s sporting journey started by playing hockey at his school. He used to idolize Nasir Ali, Sialkot-born former Pakistan hockey captain. Despite starting with hockey in his early days, it was nothing but Malik’s fate which took him towards cricket.
Emotional Shoaib Malik Recollects Childhood Memories
In the same episode, Shoaib Malik recollected emotional memories from his childhood. Born in Sialkot, Malik lived in Karachi with his family for around 10 years because of his father’s business. For the unversed, Malik’s three well-educated sisters have played a major role behind his success. Since the financial condition of the family wasn’t great at the time, Malik’s sisters wanted him to study and not play any sport.
Malik, who was desperate to excel in cricket, acknowledged that he couldn’t have continued his cricketing journey had it not been for his sisters running the house. Forever grateful to them, Malik couldn’t control tears falling down his cheeks while reminiscing his childhood.
Malik, who used to play tape-ball cricket initially, felt confident after attending Pepsi Clinic Camp in 1994 – organized by the legendary Imran Khan. As the coaches appreciated Malik’s game to a large extent, it motivated him to further do well.
Malik, who made his international debut in 1999, was playing the second Test against India in 2006, when his father passed away. It was on a late night that then-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq had informed Malik about his father’s condition before advising him to visit Sialkot to meet him.
Malik, however, reached home to an angry father wanting him to return to national duty. Malik, who drove back to Faislabad at his father’s behest, had to make another journey back home the following night after Haq again informed him of his father’s worsening condition.
Diagnosed with Hepatitis C, Malik’s father had lost the life as his son had to miss the third Karachi Test. Pretty much inconsolable whilst reciting the whole incident, 41-year old Malik still yearns to fulfill his father’s dream by participating in ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
