Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (Urdu: شاہد افریدی; Pashto: شاهد افریدی; born 1 March 1975), known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani cricketer and the former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. He is widely considered one of the most popular cricketers of all time. An all-rounder, Afridi bowled leg spin and was recognized for his aggressive batting. Afridi was also a world record holder, holding the record for the fastest ODI century, in 37 deliveries. The record stood for 17 years before being broken by Corey Anderson.[4] He also holds the record for having hit the most sixes in the history of ODI cricket.[5][6] Bowling-wise Afridi, who considers himself a better bowler than batsman, has taken 395 wickets in ODI and 48 Test wickets. In addition he has also taken 98 T20I wickets.[7]
Afridi was player of the match in the 2009 T20 World Cup Final of the 2009 T20 World Cup scoring an unbeaten 54, having also been the player of the tournament in the 2007 edition. He led the Pakistan team in the 2011 Cricket World Cup where they reached the semi-finals before losing to rivals India. In January 2010, he was banned for the rest of the series against Australia after biting the ball in an act of ball tampering.[8] In Test's Afridi was captain for just one match before resigning and retiring from the format, a move which allowed Salman Butt to replace him. After Pakistan's group stage elimination from the 2016 T20 World Cup, Afridi said he was stepping down from captaincy but not retiring. However he was not selected afterwards and on 19 February 2017, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket. He made a brief return to international cricket after being selected to represent and captain the World XI against the West Indies in the 2018 Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge charity match. Following the conclusion of the match, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket on 31 May 2018.
Domestically Afridi has represented many teams. He was the captain of Peshawar Zalmi in the 2016 Pakistan Super League, having been the first player to be picked in the competition, and won the trophy with them in 2017. He also represented the Karachi Kings in 2018 and currently plays for the Multan Sultans in the PSL. He has also played for Hampshire scoring his only T20 century with them and is the current captain of Galle Gladiators in the Lanka Premier League.
Away from cricket Afidi runs his own charity, the Shahid Afridi Foundation which aims to provide education and healthcare facilities. He also teamed up with UNICEF to promote the anti-polio campaign in the country. During the 2019 Coronavirus pandemic, he was involved in helping people across Balochistan during the lockdown in the country. This led to him contracting COVID-19 on June 13, 2020.[9]
Early and personal life
In his autobiography, Game Changer (2019), Afridi revealed his year of birth as 1975.[10] It had earlier been reported that he was born in Khyber Agency, Pakistan to an Afridi tribe of Pashtuns in 1980.[11][12]
He belongs to a family of Sufi pirs (teachers or spiritual masters) and his grandfather Maulana Muhammad Ilyas was a well-known spiritual figure in Bhutan Sharif, a locality in the Tirah Valley.[13] His other grandfather, Sahibzada Abdul Baqi, was given the title Ghazi-e-Kashmir (conqueror of Kashmir) for his efforts during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948.[14][15]
He is married to his maternal cousin Nadia Afridi and has five daughters.[16] It was announced in 2021 that his daughter, Aqsa will be engaged to cricketer Shaheen Afridi.[17]
Afridi was drafted to the Pakistan senior national team after fine performances at the under-19 championship circuit starting the 1994–95 season. Playing for the Karachi Whites, he helped his team win the title the following season picking 42 wickets in five matches at an impressive average of 9.59. Later that season, Afridi had played against the visiting England A and West Indies Youth teams and a few first-class games for Karachi Whites in the senior National Championship.[18]
In 2003, Afridi's first cousin, Shaquib Afridi, was killed in an operation by the BSF in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir. Shaquib was a self-styled Battalion Commander in Harkat ul-Ansar.[19]
International career
In October 1996, 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.[20][21] He made his debut on 2 October against Kenya; however, he didn't bat and went wicketless.[22] 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 equaled the record for most in an ODI innings.[23][nb 1] 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.[23] The record for fastest century in ODI was broken by New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson on 1 January 2014 who reached triple-figures from 36 balls and is now held by South-African cricketer AB de Villiers who made a century from 31 balls on 18 January 2015 against West Indies.[25]
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.[26] By this point he had already played 66 ODIs, at the time a record before playing Tests.[27] He opened the batting, making scores of 10 and 6, and took five wickets in the first innings.[26] 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.[28] 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.[29] After winning the first match by 12 runs, Pakistan lost the second to draw the series.[30]
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,[31] and took 11 wickets at an average of 46.45;[32] Afridi also played 11 one day matches for the club, scoring 481 runs at an average of 40.08[33] and taking 18 wickets at 24.04.[34] 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.[35] Derbyshire County Cricket Club signed Afridi to play for them in the first two months of the 2003 English cricket season.[36] In June 2004 Afridi signed with English county side Kent to play for them in three Twenty20 matches and one Totesport League match.[37]
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.[38] 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.[39] 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. Television 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. Match referee Roshan Mahanama said: "This ban should serve as a message to players that this type of behaviour is not allowed."[40][41][42]
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.[43] 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".[44] Before Pakistan toured England in July to September, Afridi played for Ireland as an overseas player in the C&G Trophy.[44] In six matches, he scored 128 runs[45] and took seven wickets.[46] England won the four-match Test series 3–0;[47] Afridi played two matches, scoring 49 runs[48] and took three wickets.[49] It was the last Test cricket Afridi played until 2010.[50]
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.[51]
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. He also became the first person to receive the Player of the Tournament award in T20 World Cup history. 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.
During the ICC World T20 final in 2009 versus Sri Lanka at Lord's, he set some all-round records.
- He became the first player to score a fifty in a successful runchase in a World T20 final.
- Afridi became the first player to score a fifty and to take at least a single wicket in a World T20 final.[52]
- He also became the only player to win both the Player of the Final(2009) and the Player of the tournament awards in ICC World T20 history.[53]
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.[54] His spell of 6–38 against Australia in 2010 was voted as the Best ODI Bowling Performance of 2009 by ESPNCricinfo.[55] 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.[56] Later Afridi pleaded guilty to ball tampering and he was banned from two Twenty20 internationals.[57]
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.[58] In July 2010, Afridi captained Pakistan in the first Test of the series at Lord's against Australia. 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.[59] 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".[60] According to a representative of Afridi, he had voiced his concerns about Mazhar Majeed – who had approached Pakistan's players – in June.[61] 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.[62]
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.[67] Coach Waqar Younis also expressed his unhappiness at having no input in the 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".[68] Pakistan lost the series 3–2.
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.[69] In the same match, he also became the first cricketer to have completed the double of 500 runs and 50 wickets in the T20 Internationals.[70] 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.[71] 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 set up 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.[72]
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.[73] In the following match against Sri Lanka, which Pakistan won, Afridi claimed four 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.[74][nb 2] He claimed 17 wickets from 6 matches in the first round of the Cup, including a five-wicket haul against Canada,[75] as Pakistan finished top of their group and progressed to the next stage.[76] After beating the West Indies in the quarter-final, with Afridi taking four wickets,[77] Pakistan were knocked out of the semi-finals in a 29-run defeat to India.[78] 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.[79]
Soon after the World Cup Pakistan toured the West Indies for a T20I, five ODIs, and two Tests. Pakistan lost the only T20I[80] but won the ODI series that followed 3–2.[81] Afridi took two wickets and scored 28 runs in the series.[82][83] The coach, Waqar 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".[84] 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.[85] Afridi subsequently withdrew from the touring squad, citing the illness of his father
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