family in Sialkot, in Pakistan's Punjab province. His father Malik Faqueer Hussain, a modest shopkeeper who sold local footwear and supported his son's passion for cricket, passed away of throat cancer in 2006. Malik divorced his wife Ayesha Siddiqui on 7 April 2010. On 12 April 2010, Shoaib Malik married Indian tennis player 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 Sialkot, Pakistan. Their wedding received media and online attention across the world. The couple announced their first pregnancy via social media on 23 April 2018. Their first child, a boy, was born on 30 October 2018. His brother Adeel Malik and his nephew Mohammad Huraira are also cricketers. Early career 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 in trouble with his family for playing cricket, as they wanted him to focus on his education. In 1996, Malik attended trials for the U-15 World Cup. He was selected in the squad for his bowling. In May 2001, Malik's bowling action was inspected. The PCB group of bowling advisers concluded that his stock off-spinner was legal, although his delivery going the other way was not. He was encouraged to concentrate on his off-spin and to practice bowling his other delivery without bending his arm. 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. Malik was approached by Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in July 2003 to act as a replacement for Ian Harvey, who was on international duty with Australia. John Bracewell, the club's director of cricket, commented that he was "excited by the prospect of signing an international spinning all-rounder to replace Ian during the Cheltenham Festival and the C&G semi-finals. He will add a new and refreshing dimension to the sq­uad ... which is in keeping with our playing philosophy to both win and entertain". He sufficiently impressed in two County Championship and three one-day matches that resulted in renewing of his contract for the 2004 season. Mark Alleyne, the