Shaheen Afridi
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Urdu: شاهین شاہ آفریدی, Pashto: شاهین شاہ اپریدی; born 6 April 2000) is a Pakistani professional cricketer who plays as a fast bowler for the Pakistan national cricket team. He made his international debut for Pakistan in April 2018 and his Test match debut for the team in December 2018.[2]
![]() Shaheen Afridi in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Shaheen Shah Afridi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Landi Kotal, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan | 6 April 2000||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Left-arm fast[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Bowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations | Riaz Afridi (brother) Yasir Afridi (cousin) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side |
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Test debut (cap 236) | 3 December 2018 v New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 13 August 2020 v England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ODI debut (cap 218) | 21 September 2018 v Afghanistan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last ODI | 5 July 2019 v Bangladesh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
T20I debut (cap 78) | 3 April 2018 v West Indies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last T20I | 25 January 2020 v Bangladesh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017–present | Khan Research Laboratories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017 | Dhaka Dynamites | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018–present | Lahore Qalandars (squad no. 10) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 13 August 2020 |
In 2017, Afridi was noted as a 6-foot 6 inch 17-year-old Pakistani fast-bowling talent who can bowl 90 mph[3] and also for his big-hitting ability.[4] He considers himself an all-rounder and seeks to excel in bowling, batting and fielding.[5] In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).[6][7]
Early life and career
Shaheen belongs to the Zakhakhel Afridi tribe of the Pashtuns.[8] He grew up in Landi Kotal, a town in Khyber District, Pakistan, on the border with Afghanistan. He is the youngest of seven brothers; his eldest brother, 15 years his senior, is Riaz Afridi who played a solitary Test match for Pakistan in 2004.[4] Shaheen started his cricket career from the Tatara Ground in Landi Kotal, which is named after the nearby Tatara hills.[9]
Riaz Afridi introduced Shaheen to hard-ball cricket at the FATA Under-16 trials in 2015, with Shaheen having played only tennis-ball cricket until then.[5] Success at this level led Shaheen to selection for the Under-16 tour of Australia in November 2015 where he played his part with four wickets in the 2–1 victories in the One-Day and Twenty20 series.[5]
Domestic and T20 career
In December 2016, Afridi was included in the Pakistan Under-19 cricket team selected for the 2016 Under-19 Asia Cup held in Sri Lanka.[8] He took 3 wickets for 27 runs in Pakistan's nine wickets win over Singapore in their opening match of the U-19 Asia Cup.[10]
In early September 2017, Afridi signed a two-year contract with Dhaka Dynamites, a major Bangladesh Premier League franchise.[11][2][12] Later he made his first-class debut for Khan Research Laboratories in the 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy on 26 September 2017.[13] In the second innings of the match, he took 8 wickets for 39 runs,[14] the best figures by a Pakistani bowler on first-class debut.[4][15]
In December 2017, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.[16] He was the leading wicket-taker for Pakistan in the tournament, with 12 wickets.[17] Following Pakistan's matches in the tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Afridi as the rising star of the squad.[18]
He made his Twenty20 debut for Lahore Qalandars in the 2018 Pakistan Super League (PSL) on 23 February 2018.[19] The following month in the PSL, during Lahore's match with the Multan Sultans, Afridi took five wickets for four runs. Lahore won the fixture by 6 wickets and Afridi was named the player of the match.[20][21]
In April 2018, he was named in Baluchistan's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup.[22][23] He made his List A debut for Baluchistan on 25 April 2018.[24]
In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Rotterdam Rhinos in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.[25][26] However, the following month the tournament was cancelled.[27] In December 2019, it was announced that Afridi will play for Hampshire County Cricket Club in the 2020 t20 Blast in England.[28]
International career
In March 2018, he was named in Pakistan's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against the West Indies.[29][30] He made his T20I debut for Pakistan against the West Indies on 3 April 2018.[31] In September 2018, he was named in Pakistan's One Day International (ODI) squad for the 2018 Asia Cup.[32][33] He made his ODI debut for Pakistan against Afghanistan on 21 September 2018.[34]
In November 2018, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for their series against New Zealand.[35] He made his Test debut for Pakistan against New Zealand on 3 December 2018.[36]
In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[37][38] On 5 July 2019, in the match against Bangladesh, Shaheen became the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a World Cup match, finishing with figures of 6/35.[39] These were also the best bowling figures by a bowler for Pakistan in a World Cup match.[40] Following the World Cup, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Afridi as the rising star of the squad.[41]
In December 2019, during the second Test match against Sri Lanka, Afridi took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.[42]
In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the COVID-19 pandemic.[43][44] In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England.[45][46]
References
- "Top 10 Tallest Cricketers Of All Time". Cricket Addictor. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
- Abdul Ghaffar (10 September 2017). "Khyber Agency's Shaheen Shah signed by Dhaka Dynamites". Dawn. Archived from the original on 22 August 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- Shaheen Shah Afridi - 6 foot 6 inch 17-year-old Pakistani fast-bowling talent who bowls 90MPH on YouTube, 25 July 2017
- Farooq, Umar (29 September 2017). "Shaheen Afridi: the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy's new sensation". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- "Talent Spotter: Shaheen Shah Afridi (interview, video etc)". PakPassion. 31 July 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- "PCB Central Contracts 2018–19". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- "New central contracts guarantee earnings boost for Pakistan players". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- "Tribal player selected for U-19 cricket team". Business Recorder. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- "Searching for catharsis in Tatara". The Express Tribune. 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
- "U19 Asia Cup: Pakistan begin campaign by routing Singapore". Express Tribune. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- Lakhani, Faizan (10 September 2017). "From Khyber Agency to Dhaka Dynamites: Talented Shaheen Shah signs two-year contract". Geo TV. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- "BPL team rosters: Who is playing where". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). 17 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- "Pool B, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy at Rawalpindi, Sep 26-29 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
- "Preview: Afghanistan U19 v Pakistan U19". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- "Shaheen Afridi follows in some famous footsteps". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- "Hasan Khan to lead Pakistan Under-19s at World Cup". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- "ICC Under-19 World Cup, 2017/18 - Pakistan Under-19s: Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- "U19CWC Report Card: Pakistan". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
- "3rd Match (N), Pakistan Super League at Dubai, Feb 23 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- "Shaheen Afridi's 5 for 4 ends Lahore's losing streak". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "20th Match (D/N), Pakistan Super League at Dubai, Mar 9 2018 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
- "Pakistan Cup one-day tournament to begin in Faisalabad next week". Geo TV. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- "Pakistan Cup Cricket from 25th". The News International. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- "(D/N)Pakistan Cup at Faisalabad, Apr 25 2018". Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- "Eoin Morgan to represent Dublin franchise in inaugural Euro T20 Slam". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- "Euro T20 Slam Player Draft completed". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- "Inaugural Euro T20 Slam cancelled at two weeks' notice". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- "Shaheen Afridi joins Hampshire for 2020 Vitality Blast season". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
- "Asif Ali, Talat and Shaheen Afridi picked for WI T20Is". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
- "Afridi, Talat, Ali bring gush of youth to Pakistan". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- "3rd T20I, West Indies tour of Pakistan at Karachi, Apr 3 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- "Shaheen Afridi included in Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2018". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- "The rapid rise of Shaheen Shah Afridi". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- "2nd Match, Super Four, Asia Cup at Abu Dhabi, Sep 21 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- "Uncapped Shaheen Afridi, Saad Ali in Pakistan squad for New Zealand Tests". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- "3rd Test, New Zealand tour of United Arab Emirates at Abu Dhabi, Dec 3-7 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
- "Mohammad Amir left out of Pakistan's World Cup squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- "Amir left out of Pakistan's World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- "Shaheen Afridi destroys Bangladesh as Pakistan bid goodbye to World Cup". Jantaka Reporter. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- "Cricket World Cup: Pakistan hammer Bangladesh but New Zealand into semi-finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- "CWC19 report card: Pakistan". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- "Shaheen Afridi and Dinesh Chandimal star on day of fluctuating fortunes". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
- "Haider Ali the new face as Pakistan name 29-man touring party for England". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- "Haider Ali named in 29-player squad for England tour". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
- "Pakistan shortlist players for England Tests". Pakistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
- "Wahab Riaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed in 20-man Pakistan squad for England Tests". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 July 2020.