Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (Urdu: صاحبزادہ محمد شاہد خان
آفریدی) (born 1 March
1980 in Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan,
popularly known as Shahid Afridi (Pashto: شاهد
افریدی), is a Pakistani
cricketer. Between 1996 and 2011, Afridi played 27 Tests, 325 One Day
Internationals, and 43 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) for the Pakistani
national team. He made his ODI debut on 2 October 1996 against Kenya and his
Test debut on 22 October 1998 against Australia.
He is known for his aggressive batting style, and holds the
record for the fastest ODI century which he made in his first international
innings, as well as scoring 32 runs in a single over, the second highest
scoring over ever in an ODI. He also holds the distinction of having hit the
most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket. Afridi considers himself
a better bowler than batsman, and has taken 48 Test wickets and over 300 in
ODIs. Currently Afridi is the leading wicket taker in the Twenty20 format
taking 53 wickets from 43 matches.
In June 2009, Afridi took over the Twenty20 captaincy from
Younus Khan, and was later appointed ODI captain for the 2010 Asia Cup. In his
first match as ODI captain against Sri Lanka he scored a century however
Pakistan still lost by 16 runs. He then also took over the Test captaincy but resigned
after one match in charge citing lack of form and ability to play Test cricket;
at the same time he announced his retirement from Tests. He retained the
captaincy in limited-overs form of the game and led the team in the 2011 World
Cup. In May 2011, having led Pakistan in 34 ODIs Afridi was replaced as
captain. Later that month he announced his conditional retirement from
international cricket in protest against his treatment by the Pakistan Cricket
Board (PCB); in October he reversed his decision.
Personal Life
Afridi is from the Afridi tribe of the Khyber Agency in the
Federally Administered Tribal Areas and hails from a Pashtun family. He is
married and has two daughters, Aqsa and Ansha.
International Career
In October 1996 at the age of sixteen Afridi was drafted
into the ODI team during the four-nation Sameer Cup 1996–97 as a leg spinner as
a replacement for the injured Mushtaq Ahmed. He made his debut on 2 October
against Kenya, however he didn't bat and went wicketless. In the next match
against Sri Lanka, Afridi batted at number three in the role of a pinch-hitter.
In his first international innings, Afridi broke the record for fastest century
in ODI cricket, reaching his hundred from 37 balls. The eleven sixes he struck
also equalled the record for most in an ODI innings. Aged 16 years and 217
days, Afridi became the youngest player to score an ODI century. Pakistan
posted a total of 371, at the time the second-highest in ODIs, and won by 82
runs; Afridi was named man of the match.
Two years after appearing on the international scene, Afridi
made his Test debut in the third game of a three-match series against Australia
on 22 October 1998. By this point he had already played 66 ODIs, at the time a
record before playing Tests. He opened the batting, making scores of 10 and 6,
and took five wickets in the first innings. He played his second Test the
following January during Pakistan's tour of India; it was the first Test
between the two countries since 1990. Again opening the batting, Afridi scored
his maiden Test century, scoring 141 runs from 191 balls. In the same match he
also claimed three wickets for 54 runs. After winning the first match by 12
runs, Pakistan lost the second to draw the series.
In 2001, Afridi signed a contract to represent
Leicestershire. In five first-class matches he scored 295 runs at an average of
42.14, including a highest score of 164 and took 11 wickets at an average of
46.45; Afridi also played 11 one day matches for the club, scoring 481 runs
at an average of 40.08 and taking 18 wickets at 24.04. His highest score of
95 came from 58 balls in a semi-final of the C&G Trophy to help
Leicestershire beat Lancashire by seven wickets. Derbyshire County Cricket Club
signed Afridi to play for them in the first two months of the 2003 English
cricket season. In June 2004 Afridi signed with English county side Kent to
play for them in three Twenty20 matches and one Totesport League match.
An innings-by-innings breakdown of Afridi's Test match
batting career up to 30 December 2007, showing runs scored (red bars) and the
average of the last ten innings (blue line).
Afridi made his presence felt in the third Test against
India in March 2005, scoring a quick-fire second-innings half-century and
taking five wickets in the match (including Tendulkar twice) to help Pakistan
to win the game and register a series draw. In April Afridi struck what at the
time was the equal second-fastest century in ODIs; he reached 100 off 45
deliveries against India, sharing the record with West Indian Brian Lara.
Afridi was more consistent with his batting and bowling throughout 2005,
starting with the tours of India and West Indies and through to the England
tour. The Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer helped Afridi to reach a fuller potential
by improving his shot selection and giving him free rein over his batting
attitude.
On 21 November 2005, Shahid Afridi was banned for a Test
match and two ODIs for deliberately damaging the pitch in the second match of
the three-Test series against England. TV cameras pictured him scraping his
boots on the pitch scuffing the surface when play was held up after a gas
canister exploded. Afridi later pleaded guilty to a level three breach of the
ICC code of conduct relating to the spirit of the game. Inquiries were made and
Afridi's antics came into view. He was investigated and banned after the day's
play, along with receiving a huge amount of criticism from the cricketing world
for bringing the game into disrepute. Match referee Roshan Mahanama said:
"This ban should serve as a message to players that this type of behaviour
is not allowed." On this Afridi accepted his fault and said that a
"senior player like me should set good examples to others because they see
us to learn." His behaviour was also condemned by the Pakistan Cricket
Board.
On 12 April 2006, Afridi announced a temporary retirement
from Test cricket so that he could concentrate on ODIs, with a particular focus
on the 2007 World Cup, and to spend more time with his family. He said he would
consider reversing his decision after the World Cup. Afridi had played ten
Tests since being recalled to the side in January 2005, averaging 47.44 with
the bat including four centuries. However, on 27 April he reversed his
decision, saying that "[Woolmer] told me that I am one of the main players
in the team and squad and that Pakistan really needed me". Before Pakistan
toured England in July to September, Afridi played for Ireland as an overseas
player in the C&G Trophy. In six matches, he scored 128 runs and took seven
wickets. England won the four-match Test series 3–0; Afridi played two matches,
scoring 49 runs and took three wickets. It was the last Test cricket Afridi
played until 2010.
Afridi was charged on 8 February 2007 of bringing the game
into disrepute after he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who
swore at him on his way up the steps after being dismissed. Afridi was given a
four-game ODI suspension, the minimum possible ban for such an offence, meaning
that he would miss Pakistan's first two 2007 World Cup matches. The PCB and
Afridi chose not to appeal the ban, despite feeling that the punishment was
excessively harsh.
In the 2007 World Twenty20, he performed poorly with the bat
but brilliantly with the ball, earning the Man of the Series award, though he
failed to take a wicket in the final and was out for a golden duck.But in the
next ICC Twenty20 World Cup, held in 2009 Afridi performed brilliantly in the
series scoring 50 runs in the semi-final and 54 in the final and leading his
team to victory.
Captaincy (2009–2011)
Shortly after Pakistan won the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 the
captain Younis Khan announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket the Pakistan
Cricket Board (PCB) subsequently announced that Shahid Afridi had taken over as
captain in T20Is; the appointment was initially for one match, with a decision
on the permanent replacement to be made later. On 31 January 2010, Afridi was
caught on camera biting into the ball towards the end of the 5th Commonwealth
Bank ODI series in Australia. Later Afridi pleaded guilty to ball tampering and
he was banned from two Twenty20 internationals. In March 2010 the board
announced that Shahid Afridi had been appointed ODI captain in place of the
sacked Mohammad Yousuf he led Pakistan in the 2010 Asia Cup and during his
first three matches as ODI captain he scored two centuries against Sri Lanka
and Bangladesh he finished as the tournaments highest runscorer with 384 runs
from 3 matches.
On 25 May 2010, Afridi was appointed captain of the national
team in all three formats, after he announced his return to Test cricket. In
July 2010, Afridi captained Pakistan in the first Test of the series at Lord's
against England. He scored 31 off 15 deliveries in the first innings and 2 in
the second but was dismissed succumbing to rash strokes in both the innings.
After the match, he announced retirement from Test cricket again citing lack of
temperament for Test cricket as the reason. Afridi was officially removed from
the Test squad on the England tour, but after the spot-fixing scandal saw
Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Test captain Salman Butt temporarily suspended
by the International Cricket Council, he stated that he might return to Test
cricket if "the team needs it". According a representative of Afridi,
he had voiced his concerns about Mazhar Majeed – who had approached Pakistan's
players – in June. Majeed also confirmed that he approached Afridi, Abdul
Razzaq, Younis Khan and Saeed Ajmal but all off them refused to be affiliated
with him of his fixing menace. Worth mentioning is that the four names given
above were not associated in the original scandal and that no disciplinary
action have been taken against them by the sports governing body the
International Cricket Council.
In October, Afridi stated in an interview with Express News
that the squad had been selected without his consultation; the PCB gave him an
official warning for the interview. Coach Waqar Younis also expressed his
unhappiness at having no input in selection, however Mohsin Khan, the chief
selector, defended the decision, stating "it is not written down in the
PCB constitution that the coach and captain(s) must have a say in the selection
of any squad". Pakistan lost the series 3–2.
Afridi during Pakistan's tour of New Zealand in December
2010
The team toured New Zealand between December 2010 and
February 2011 for two Tests, six ODIs, and three T20Is. Pakistan lost the first
two T20Is but won the third; in final match Afridi became the first cricketer
to reach 50 international wickets in the format. When Pakistan's squad for the
2011 World Cup was announced no captain was named; Afridi, the incumbent ODI
captain and Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test captain, were the front runners for the
position. Pakistan lost the first match against New Zealand by 8-wickets, the
second match got rained out and in the third Mohammad Hafeez scored a century
and Afridi scored a blistering 65 from just 25 balls. The following match was a
tight game but Pakistan prevailed by two-wickets thanks to three boundaries
from Sohail Tanvir, the match was setup by a 93 not out from Misbah-ul-Haq. The
fifth ODI was won for Pakistan by 43 runs courtesy of a maiden ODI-century from
Ahmed Shehzad. Afridi helped in the lower order by scoring 24 and taking two
crucial top order wickets to help guide Pakistan to a 43-run victory and their
first ODI series win in two years.
After gaining victory as a captain against New Zealand, the
PCB declared Shahid Afridi as Pakistan's captain for the 2011 World Cup. In
Pakistan's opening match of the tournament, Afridi took 5 wickets for 16 runs
against Kenya, giving him the best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler in a
World Cup. In the following match against Sri Lanka, which Pakistan won, Afridi
claimed for more wickets to help his side to victory and became the second
player to have scored 4,000 runs and taken 300 wickets in ODIs. He claimed 17
wickets from 6 matches in the first round of the Cup, including a five-wicket
haul against Canada, as Pakistan finished top of their group and progressed to
the next stage. Pakistan beat West Indies in the quarter-final by ten wickets,
with Afridi taking four wickets. Pakistan were knocked out of the semi-finals
in a 29-run defeat to India. Afridi was the tournament's joint-leading
wicket-taker with 21 wickets, level with India's Zaheer Khan, even though
Afridi had played one match less than him. Soon after the World Cup Pakistan
toured the West Indies for a T20I, five ODIs, and two Tests. Pakistan lost the
only T20I but won the ODI series that followed 3–2. Afridi took two wickets and
scored 28 runs in the series. The coach, Waqat Younis, fell out with Afridi and
in his report on the tour criticised Afridi, saying "as a captain he is
very immature, has poor discipline, lacks a gameplan and is unwilling to listen
to others' opinions or advice". After the series, on 19 May the PCB
replaced Afridi as ODI captain with Misbah-ul-Haq for the two-match ODI series
against Ireland later that month. In 34 ODIs as captain, Afridi led his side to
18 wins and 15 defeats. Afridi subsequently withdrew from the touring squad,
citing the illness of his father.
Conditional retirement (2011)
On 30 May Afridi announced his conditional retirement from
international cricket in protest against his treatment by the PCB. The
condition on his return was that the board be replaced. The PCB suspended
Afridi's central contract, fined him 4.5 million rupees ($52,300), and revoked
his no-objection certificate (NOC) which allowed Afridi to play for Hampshire.
Afridi filed a petition with the Sindh High Court to overturn the sanctions. On
15 June, Afridi withdrew his petition after an out of court settlement and the
PCB reinstated his NOC. When the PCB's central contracts were renewed in
August, Afridi's was allowed to lapse. In October he withdrew his
retirement as Ijaz Butt had been replaced as chairman of the PCB. Two
weeks after his announcement, Afridi was included in Pakistan's squad to face
Sri Lanka in three ODIs and a T20I.
Playing style
Afridi bowling his stock leg-spin delivery
Batting
His general style of batting is very aggressive and attack
oriented and has earned him the nickname "Boom Boom Afridi".
Moreover, out of the seven fastest ODI centuries of all time, Afridi has
produced three of them. As of 19 April 2011,
he has an ODI strike rate of 113.88 runs per 100 balls, the fourth highest in
the game's history. This attitude has been transferred to Test cricket as
well, with Afridi scoring at a relatively high strike rate of 86.97. He has an
approach to batting that can change the tempo of a game and inspire the mood of
an audience, as shown when a mass exodus of spectators occurred in Pakistan in
late 2005 following his dismissal from the crease.
He hits many sixes long and high, favouring straight down
the ground or over midwicket and hit the longest ever six in the history of
ODIs against Australia. His trademark shot is a cross-batted flick to the
leg-side to a ball outside off stump. However, his aggressive style increases
his risk of getting out and he is one of the most inconsistent batsmen in
cricket. This is reflected by the fact that he is the only player to score more
than 6,000 ODI runs at an average under 25. Afridi has moved about the batting
order, and this lack of consistency has made it difficult for him to settle. In
the Indian subcontinent, where the ball quickly loses its shine, he prefers to
open the batting however elsewhere he prefers to bat at number six.
Bowling
Having started as a fast bowler, Afridi decided to start
bowling spin after he was told he was throwing. He modelled himself on Pakistan
leg-spinner Abdul Qadir. Afridi began his career as primarily a bowler, however
after scoring the fastest century in his maiden ODI innings more was expected
of him with the bat. He considers himself a better bowler than batsman. While
he is renowned for his aggressive batting, he is also a handy leg-spinner
capable of producing a good mix of wicket taking balls. He has over 300
International wickets, most of which are from the ODI format. While his stock
ball is the leg break, his armoury also includes the conventional off break and
a 'quicker one' which he can deliver in the style of a medium-pacer, reaching
speeds of around 130 kilometres per hour (80 mph). He bowls at a high speed for
a spinner, resulting in lesser turn, and relying more on variations in speed.
He occasionally sends down a bouncer to a batsman, which is very rare for a
spin bowler.
Bowling Records and achievements
Test centuries
§ In
the column Runs, *
indicates being not out
§ The
column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career
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