Pakistan skipper Shoaib Malik was snapped up for half a million dollars by the Delhi franchise at the Indian Premier League player auction in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Shoaib, one of the cleanest strikers of a cricket ball in the world game, would no doubt have impressed his buyers also by bowling ten overs in all of Pakistan’s recent one-day series with Zimbabwe so his return to his all-rounder status will be a boon for the team.

Malik joins local icon status player Virender Sehwag on the Delhi roster along with New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori, Pakistan team-mate Mohammad Asif, AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik and Sri Lankans Farveez Maharoof and Tillekeratne Dilshan.  

Malik led Pakistan to the final of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in September and that experience will no doubt aid his performance in this inaugural T20 event.