Introduction – Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi is a Pakistani professional cricketer who was the former head of the Pakistan national cricket team. Afridi also holds the record of taking the most wickets as well as the most players of the match awards for Twenty-20 international cricket.
He is renowned for his dynamic and energetic batsmanship style. He also held his record of the most rapid One Day International century in thirty-seven supplies. He also holds the honor of hitting the highest number of sixes during the long history of ODI cricket. Afridi is a better bowler than a batsman and has scored forty-eight Test wickets and more than 350 ODI wickets. As of now, Afridi is heading the chart of the highest T20I wickets, with the most wickets in 92 games. Afridi currently is the Head of Pakistan Super League team Peshawar Zalmi, which is owned by his cousin Javed Afridi.
Shahid Afridi is a humanitarian and owner of the Shahid Afridi Foundation. In the year 2015, Afridi was named among the top 20 most charitable athletes in the world in the Do Something.
Personal Life
Shahid Afridi was born on the 1 1st date of the month March the year 1980, in the Khyber Agency which is part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.
He is a member of his Afridi tribe of the Pashtuns. He is the uncle of the CEO of Haier Pakistan, Javed Afridi. Afridi is married to Nadia and has four daughters: Ajwa Afridi, Asmara Afridi, Aqsa Afridi, and Ansha Afridi.
Also More: List Of Top 15 Richest Pakistani Celebrities 2023
Beginning of Career
In October of 1996, at 16, Afridi was enrolled into the One Day International team throughout the four-nation Sameer Cup 1996 and 1997 as a leg spinner in place of incapacitated Mushtaq Ahmad. The first time he played was in a match on the 2nd of October against Kenya however the batsman did not play and the left wicket was less. The next game was against Sri Lanka, Afridi batted at the third position in the role of a pinch-hitter. In his debut intercontinental game in the series, he set the highest-ever time for the fastest century ever recorded in ODI cricket, achieving his century from just 37 balls.
The 11 sixes he struck also set the record for the highest number of hits in an ODI game. Aged just 16 years and 217 days old, He was the youngest player to reach an ODI century. Pakistan had an average of 371, which was at the time, the second-highest score in ODIs. The team beat India by 82 runs. and was named the Man of the Match. The record for the fastest century in ODI was broken by New Zealand cricketer Corey Anderson on 1 1 January 2014. He made 131* runs using 36 balls. It is currently held by South African cricket player AB de Villiers who made an unbeaten century in just 31 balls on the 18th of January 2015 in a match against West Indies.
A couple of years later, on the international level He made his Test debut during the 3 3rdcompetition of three-match series against Australia on 22 22nd Oct 1998. In this way, the player had played sixty-six ODIs, which was at the time, a record prior to participating in Tests. He also unbolted the batting and scored scores of 10 and 6, as well as taking five wickets during the first innings. He played his second Test in January of the following year during Pakistan’s tour to India and it was the first time a Test had been played between both teams since 1990. In his second attempt at opening the batting, Afridi recorded his initial Test century with a score of 141 from 191 balls. In the match that he played, Afridi also appealed 3 wickets, scoring 54 runs. After winning the first game by twelve runs Pakistan was defeated in the subsequent match in order to be drawn from the series.
In 2001 Shahid Afridi contracted an agreement to name Leicestershire. In five games of the first class, the player scored 295 runs at an average of 42.14 with a maximum score of 164. He also picked up 11 wickets with a rate of 46.45 He also played 11 one-day games for Leicestershire, recording 481 runs with an average of 40.08 and taking 18 wickets in 24.04. His highest score of 95 was derived from 58 balls in the semi-final match of the C&G Trophy to support Leicestershire defeat Lancashire 7 wickets to 1. Derbyshire County Cricket Club contracted Afridi to be their player at the beginning of the 2003’s English cricket season. In the month of June, Afridi signed a contract with English district club Kent to be a part of their team in three Twenty-20 matches as well as the one Tote sports League game.
Shahid Afridi prepared his attendance felt in the third Test against India in March 2005. He hit a fast-fire second-innings half-century, and took five wickets during the game and also Tendulkar twice to assist Pakistan to win the match and secure a draw in the series. Then, in April of 2005, Shahid Afridi achieved what was at the time the equivalent of the second-fastest century in ODIs. He hit 100 off 45 provisional wickets against India and shared the record alongside West Indian Brian Lara. He was more steady when it came to bowling and batting throughout 2005, starting with the travels in India as well as West Indies and during the England visit. His Pakistani Trainer Bob Woolmer assisted Afridi to extend his capabilities by increasing his shot selection and giving him greater freedom in his batsmanship style.
On the 21st of November the year 2005 Shahid Afridi was expelled from a Test game as well as two One-Days for ruining the field during the second game of the three-Test series against England. Television cameras recorded Shahid Afridi rubbing his field shoes on the pitch and deteriorating outwards, while the game was halted after the gas container was blown up. Afridi was later remorseful and pleaded the level three breach within the ICC code of conduct relating to the essence and spirit of the game. The umpire for the match Roshan Mahanama stated: “This prohibition ought to help in a way to convey to players that this type of behavior is unacceptable.”
On April 12, 2006, Shahid Afridi declared a permanent suspension from Test cricket, so that he could focus on ODIs and pay particular concentration to this year’s World Cup, and spend more time with his family. Shahid Afridi said he will think about his decision following when he was at the World Cup. He played 10 Tests since he was brought to the team in January 2005. He had an average of 47.44 and the bat was credited with four centuries. On the 27th of April, the decision was reversed and stated that “[Woolmertold me that I’m one of the top players in the team and group and that Pakistan actually wanted me”. Prior to when Pakistan going to England between July and September, he was a part of Ireland on behalf of an international player during the C&G Trophy. In the course of six matches, he scored 128 runs and took 7 wickets. England took the Test series 3-0. Afridi played two games with 49 runs, while also taking three wickets. This was the most recent Test cricket match Afridi played up to 2010.
Shahid Afridi was accused on 8 February February 2007 of bringing the sport into disrepute when he was caught on camera throwing his bat toward a person who yelled at him on his way to the top of the ladder after being released. Afridi was given a four-game ODI postponement. This was the most likely punishment for an offense, which meant that he was not allowed to play in the initial two 2007 World Cup games. Afridi and the Pakistan Cricket Board and Afridi chose not to request the ban, but not without any sensitivity to the fact of the penalty were harsh.
At the 2007 World Twenty20, Shahid Afridi performed poorly with the bat but was superb with the ball and was awarded his the Man of the Series reward however he was unable to get a wicket in the final and was dismissed for the golden duck. But in the following ICC Twenty20 World Cup that was held in 2009, Shahid Afridi played excellently in the tournament, scoring fifty-plus runs in the semi-finals with 54 at the end before winning his team.
Not confirmed Superannuation and Reappearance
On the 30 dayMay, Shahid Afridi declared his absence from international cricket, citing objections to his conduct in the eyes of the PCB. The reason for his return required that the PCB be modified. The PCB suspended Afridi’s central agreement and subsequently charged Afridi 4.5 million of rupees ($52,300) as well as canceled his no-objection certification (NOC) which allowed Afridi to play for Hampshire. The actor filed a complaint to the Sindh High Court to reverse the permissions. On the 15 day of juin, Shahid Afridi took out his appeal, which was later resubmitted to an out-of-court reimbursement and the PCB reinstated his NOC. The PCB’s central contracts were modified in August, Shahid Afridi was granted time off.
In October, he took his superannuation because Ijaz Butt was replaced as the chairman of the PCB. Within two weeks of the announcement, He was included in the Pakistani team to play Sri Lanka in 3 ODIs and one T20I. In November 2011, he stood out to be the sole cricketer to score a half-century and take 5 wickets on two occasions in ODIs. Shahid Afridi attained this accomplishment during the 4 4th ODI against Sri Lanka which assisted Pakistan in securing their one-day match. He also happened to be the only player to reach 50 points during his first fifty T20 International (he has been only one of the players who has played 50 T20s from the 9th of July to 7). He is the one who has the most prizes for Player of the Match with seven, one of which is over Senath Jayasuriya, and Kevin Pietersen who are both second in the rankings with six.
In 2013, in the initial ODI match against in the West Indies in Guyana, Shahid Afridi completed with statistics of 7/12, which is the second-highest ODI bowling record ever. He was in July 2014 when he was a player in his Rest of the World side during the Bicentenary Celebration matches at Lord’s. Afridi announced his retirement from ODI cricket in 2015. Cricket World Cup. Pakistan was defeated by Australia in the quarter-finals and also lost the match.
In March of the year, 2016 Pakistan was removed from this year’s ICC World Twenty20 after losing to India, New Zealand, and Australia. There was discussion about this being Afridi’s “last Twenty20 and he said following the loss in Australia that he was going to think about retiring and announce it within one week. On 3 3 April 2016, he announced the decision to not retire but instead simply resign as the Captain of the Twenty20 team.
In September of 2016 in September 2016, in September 2016, the Pakistan Cricket Board declared that they would like Shahid Afridi’s withdrawal. Afridi declared it discriminatory to be able to share his thoughts in the media. Afterward, he said he was in need of to play a final game, which didn’t happen as a consequence of his withdrawing from a meeting in the presence of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Batting
His usual way of batting is highly active and has earned the moniker “Boom Boom Afridi”. Additionally, of the top 7 fastest ODI centuries ever recorded, Afridi has created 3 of the fastest three. Since May 2013, he’s got an ODI strike rate of 114.53 runs for every 100 balls, which is the third most in the game’s long history. The boldness of his performance has been transferred to Test cricket as well and Afridi has recorded an incredibly high percentage of 86.97.
He hits a variety of sixes long and high and prefers straight up the ground or over the mid-wicket. Their signature shot of his is a cross-batted swish to the leg side to hit an outside ball off stump. But, his fast-paced style increases his risk of being out, and he’s one of the batsmen with the highest risk in cricket. He’s shifted about the batting order and this inconsistency has made it difficult for him to rest. When he is in the Indian subcontinent where the ball quickly loses its shine, he opts to open his batting but elsewhere he decides to bat at the sixth position.
Bowling
Being an extremely speedy bowler Shahid was able to bowl spin immediately after it was revealed that to throw. He proved himself by demonstrating his skills in Pakistan spinners leg Abdul Qadir. Shahid Afridi started his vocation mostly as a bowler however, after registering the fastest century of his first ODI game, the spotlight was thrown at him using the bat. Shahid Afridi believes he is a better bowler than a batsman. Even though he is renowned for his spirited cricket, he’s also a skilled leg-spinner in the vicinity in combining a variety of wicket-acquiring balls.
Shahid Afridi’s professional career was extraordinary and even his teammates were amazed when he met Wasim Akram, the player he met for the very first time. Shahid Afridi shared his story.
Even after his retirement Even after retirement, he’s shown his interest and enthusiasm for the team and made serious comments as well. Like Shaheen Shah Afridi, he was dissatisfied with his three last performances against Australia which cost the team a T20 World Cup final spot.
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