[4] His father Malik Faqueer Hussain, a modest shopkeeper who sold local footwear and supported his son's passion for cricket, died of throat cancer in 2006.

[23] On 19 January 2024, Shoaib married Pakistani TV actress Sana Javed in a private Nikah ceremony at her home in Karachi.

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.

[25] 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.

[26] 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.

Mark Alleyne, the club's head coach, remarked that "Shoaib did very well for us last year in the short time he was with us and fitted in very well.

[35] He was fined Rs10,000[36] and was also given a one-Test ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board after admitting to deliberately losing a Twenty20 match for the Sialkot Stallions against Karachi Zebras to knock Lahore Eagles out of the 2004–05 ABN-AMRO Twenty-20 Cup.

[37] The inquiry concluded that the incident "damaged Pakistan's cricketing image and had shown disrespect to the crowd", but that "his actions were not part of any match-fixing with no financial implications, but were an immature attempt to express his disappointment at earlier decisions in the competition that he felt went against his side".

[38] PCB also declared the match void and Karachi Zebras were denied a place in the triangular phase of the ABN Amro Twenty20 Cup despite initially winning their Pool ‘B’ fixture against Sialkot Stallions.

In Test cricket, he made a big impression with his match-saving innings against Sri Lanka in 2006, during which he batted for the whole day and finished with 148 runs not out.

[41] 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 Younus Khan's rejection, Malik was the popular choice as a younger player and was seen to represent a fresh start after the Inzamam era.

[43] Younis Khan took over as captain on 27 January 2009[45] after a poor performance against Sri Lanka saw Malik step down.

[45] In his two-year tenure as captain, Malik led his country in three Tests, losing two and drawing one,[46] and 36 ODIs, of which Pakistan won 24,[47] and 17 T20Is, winning 12.

[49] He also took charge of Pakistan's limited over team in the absence of Sarfraz Ahmed who was rested for the ODI series against Australia March 2019.

Mohsin Khan, Pakistan's chairman of selectors, cited Malik's poor recent form as the reason for dropping him.

[60] In April 2018, he was named in the Rest of the World XI squad for the one-off T20I against the West Indies, to be played at Lord's on 31 May 2018.

[61] In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

[65][66] He had a horrible World Cup campaign, with only 8 runs from 3 matches, with two golden ducks, and took only 1 wicket with the ball, and was even dropped from the team.

[70] According to ESPNcricinfo's Osman Samiuddin:[71] (Malik's) batting repertoire doesn't burst forth with strokes; there remains a distinctly utilitarian appeal to it.

His drives straight are generally checked, dispossessed of flourish and in his forward defensive prods, there is an exaggerated care, just to make fully sure.

He has a strike rate of 80.4 runs per 100 balls, which compares favourably to players such as Rahul Dravid and Inzamam ul-Haq.

[80] After being demoted from Platinum category to Diamond Category and after being released by Multan Sultans, Shoaib Malik was picked by Peshawar Zalmi in the 2020 Pakistan Super League players draft and will play in the 2020 Pakistan Super League representing Peshawar Zalmi as an all-rounder.

[113] He made his acting debut in 2022 with cameo appearances in the webseries Baarwan Khiladi and in the movie Chakkar, and expects to get more seriously involved in the field in the near future.