Player Profile – Shahid Afridi

This is the player profile of Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi.

Basic Details about Shahid Afridi

Full Name: Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi

Nickname(s): Boom Boom, Lala, Afridi

Date of Birth: 1^st March 1980

Place of Birth: Khyber Agency, FATA, Pakistan

Height: 6 ft (1.82 m)

Batting Style: Right-handed

Bowling Style: Right-arm leg spin

Role in the team: All Rounder

Shahid Afridi Debut In First Class, ODI, Test & T20 Cricket:

First Class Debut: 1995/96

List A Debut: 1995/96

First One Day International: Vs Kenya at Nairobi on 2^nd October 1996

First Test Match: Vs Australia at Karachi on 22^nd October 1998

First T20I Match: Vs England at Bristol on 28^th August 2006

Teams Played for Pakistan, ICC World XI, Asian XI, Habib Bank Ltd, Karachi, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Melbourne Renegades, South Australia, Deccan Chargers, Griqualand West, Dhaka Gladiators, and Fly Emirates XI.

Shahid Afridi Personal Life:

Afridi revealed his year of birth as 1975, in his autobiography GAME CHANGER (2019) It had earlier been said that he was born in 1980.
Afridi married his maternal cousin Nadia Afridi and they have five daughters. Afridi stated that being a “conservative” and religious father, he had banned his daughters from playing outdoor sports. Shahid Afridi has a clothing brand of his own. He also runs his own Foundation ‘Shahid Afridi Foundation’. Forbes listed Afridi amongst the most charitable athletes in the world as most of his income goes down to his foundation.

Professional Career Of Shahid Afridi :

Afridi was drafted to the Pakistan senior national team after his fine performances at the under-19 championship circuit. Playing for the Karachi Whites, he helped his team win the title the following season, taking 42 wickets in five matches at an astonishing average of 9.59. Later that season, Afridi played against the visiting England and West Indies Youth teams and a few first-class games for Karachi Whites in the senior National Championship.

On 19th February 2017, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket. However, he made a brief return after being selected to represent and captain the World XI against West Indies in the 2018 Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge charity match, to international cricket. Following the conclusion of the match, Afridi again announced his retirement from international cricket on 31 May 2018 at the Lord’s cricket stadium.

More about Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi announced himself on the world cricket stage as soon as he made his debut on 2^nd October 1996. In the next match against Sri Lanka, Afridi replaced injured leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed in the Sameer Cup four nations tournament, which was played in Nairobi, Kenya. Shahid Afridi was promoted as a pinch hitter and he broke the fastest One Day International century by scoring it in just 37 balls. He hit eleven sixes during that innings and that also made him the youngest player to score a century in an ODI as he was just 16 years and 217 days old.

Known for his fearsome batting ever since that match against the Sri Lankans, Afridi gradually also developed himself as an all-rounder. His lethal ‘faster one’ always used to create panic among even the topmost batsmen across the world. Despite having such skills Shahid Afridi could never become a force in the longer version of the game. Despite having a great career of around 18 years now, Shahid Afridi has played only 27 test matches in all.

But Shahid Afridi did get the honor to lead his national team in the shorter versions of the game. As soon as the T20I captain Younis Khan announced his retirement from the Twenty20 version, PCB announced Shahid Afridi as a captain of the team. Afridi even leads his team to the semi-finals of the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, which was Co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh but lost to the eventual champions India in the semi-final game, played at Mohali.

Same year angered by the treatment given by the PCB, Shahid Afridi took a temporary retirement from the international cricket and was even fined by the PCB for his act, but he returned to the team as a part of the out of the court settlement in November 2011 for the series against Sri Lanka in the UAE.

ENDORSEMENTS:

• Pepsi
• Habib Bank
• Mobilink
• Head & Shoulders

AWARDS:

• The Pride Of Performance was awarded to Afridi by the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari on 23rd March 2010.
• Afridi was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz by President of Pakistan Mamnoon Hussain on 23rd March 2018.