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[2]), 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.[3] He also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket.[4]
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).
Personal life
Afridi is from the Afridi tribe of the Khyber Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and hails from a Pashtun family.[2] He is married and has two daughters, Aqsa and Ansha.[5]
International career
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.[11] By this point he had already played 66 ODIs, at the time a record before playing Tests.[12] He opened the batting, making scores of 10 and 6, and took five wickets in the first innings.[11] 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.[13]
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.[14] After winning the first match by 12 runs, Pakistan lost the second to draw the series.[15]
