Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team.
102 Facts About Shahid Afridi
2.
An all-rounder, Afridi was a right-handed leg spinner and a right-handed batsman.
3.
Shahid Afridi made his Test debut against Australia in 1998.
4.
Shahid Afridi was named player of the tournament of the 2007 T20 World Cup.
5.
Shortly after Pakistan's win at the 2009 World Cup, Pakistan's captain, Younis Khan, announced his retirement from T20Is and Shahid Afridi was appointed as his successor.
6.
In 2010, Shahid Afridi was appointed Pakistan's ODI captain after the sacking of Mohammad Yousuf.
7.
Shahid Afridi was appointed Pakistan's Test captain but retired from the format after one match as captain.
8.
Shahid Afridi led the Pakistan team in the 2011 Cricket World Cup where they reached the semi-finals before losing to rival India.
9.
Shahid Afridi was not selected afterwards and on 19 February 2017, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket.
10.
Shahid Afridi 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.
11.
Shahid Afridi served as the interim chief selector of the Pakistan cricket team for Pakistan's series against New Zealand.
12.
Shahid Afridi teamed up with UNICEF to promote the anti-polio campaign in the country.
13.
Shahid Afridi was nominated among the top 20 most charitable athletes of 2015.
14.
Shahid Afridi was born in Khyber Agency, Pakistan, to an Shahid Afridi tribe of Pashtuns in 1977.
15.
Shahid Afridi belongs to a family of Sufi pirs and his grandfather Maulana Muhammad Ilyas was a well-known spiritual figure in Bhutan Sharif, a locality in the Tirah Valley.
16.
Shahid Afridi is married to his maternal cousin Nadia Afridi and has five daughters.
17.
In 2021, Shahid Afridi announced his daughter Ansha's engagement to cricketer Shaheen Shahid Afridi.
18.
Later that season, Shahid 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.
19.
Shahid Afridi was signed by Deccan Chargers, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL.
20.
Shahid Afridi did not play in the 2nd edition of IPL due to the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
21.
Shahid Afridi stepped down as Peshawar Zalmi captain before the start of the 2017 PSL and gave the captaincy to Daren Sammy.
22.
Shahid Afridi joined Karachi Kings for the 2018 PSL and was made the President of Karachi Kings.
23.
Shahid Afridi transferred to Karachi as a player ahead of PSL drafts.
24.
Shahid Afridi left Karachi after they didn't retain him for the 2019 PSL.
25.
Shahid Afridi was retained by Multan Sultans again prior to the 2021 PSL.
26.
Shahid Afridi played the initial part of the 2021 PSL but missed the remainder of the rescheduled tournament due to a back injury.
27.
In June 2004, Shahid Afridi signed with English county side Kent to play for them in three Twenty20 matches and one Totesport League match.
28.
Shahid Afridi was part of Ruhuna Royals in 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League but he returned to Pakistan midway through the tournament to attend his ailing wife.
29.
In January 2015, Shahid Afridi was signed by Northamptonshire Steelbacks for the 2015 T20 Blast where he reached to the final.
30.
Shahid Afridi was part of the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the third season of the Caribbean Premier League.
31.
Shahid Afridi was included in the squad of Jamaica Tallawahs for the sixth edition of Caribbean Premier League but pulled out before the start of the tournament due to knee injury.
32.
In 2018, Shahid Afridi was chosen as an icon player and captain by the Paktia Panthers in the first season of Afghanistan Premier League.
33.
Shahid Afridi was announced as the Brand Ambassador of the KPL.
34.
On 26 July 2021, Shahid Afridi was signed by Kathmandu Kings XI to play in Nepal's Everest Premier League.
35.
In 2017, Shahid Afridi was announced as the brand ambassador of newly inaugurated T10 League in UAE.
36.
Shahid Afridi was signed by Team Pakhtoons and was given the captaincy.
37.
Shahid Afridi was signed by Qalandars in 2020 as the icon player for the franchise.
38.
Shahid Afridi had previously signed a similar deal in 2019 but the Pakistan Cricket Board decided against issuing NOCs to Pakistan players for the tournament.
39.
Shahid Afridi was chosen as the brand ambassador for the Qatar Premier T10 Cricket League which was launched in 2019 by Qatar Cricket Association.
40.
In 2022 Shahid Afridi launched his own T10 league called the Mega Stars League.
41.
Two years after his international debut, Shahid Afridi made his Test debut in the third game of a three-match series against Australia on 22 October 1998.
42.
Shahid Afridi opened the batting, making scores of 10 and 6, and took five wickets in the first innings.
43.
Shahid Afridi played his second Test the following January during Pakistan's tour of India; it was the first Test between the two countries since 1990.
44.
Shahid 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 to help Pakistan to win the game and register a series draw.
45.
Shahid Afridi was more consistent with his batting and bowling throughout 2005.
46.
Pakistan's coach, Bob Woolmer, helped Shahid Afridi to reach a fuller potential by improving his shot selection and giving him free rein over his batting attitude.
47.
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.
48.
Shahid Afridi later pleaded guilty to a level three breach of the ICC code of conduct relating to the spirit of the game.
49.
On 12 April 2006, Shahid 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.
50.
Shahid Afridi said he would consider reversing his decision after the World Cup.
51.
Shahid Afridi had played ten Tests since being recalled to the side in January 2005, averaging 47.44 with the bat including four centuries.
52.
Shahid 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.
53.
Shahid 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.
54.
The PCB and Shahid Afridi chose not to appeal the ban, despite feeling that the punishment was excessively harsh.
55.
Shahid Afridi became the first person to receive the Player of the Tournament award in T20 World Cup history.
56.
The Pakistan Cricket Board 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.
57.
On 31 January 2010, Shahid Afridi was caught on camera biting into the ball towards the end of the 5th Commonwealth Bank ODI series in Australia.
58.
Later Shahid Afridi pleaded guilty to ball tampering and he was banned from two Twenty20 internationals.
59.
In March 2010 the board announced that Shahid Afridi had been appointed ODI captain in place of the sacked Mohammad Yousuf.
60.
Shahid Afridi 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 265 runs from 3 matches.
61.
On 25 May 2010, Shahid Afridi was appointed captain of the national team in all three formats, after he announced his return to Test cricket.
62.
In July 2010, Shahid Afridi captained Pakistan in the first Test of the series at Lord's against Australia.
63.
Shahid Afridi 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.
64.
Shahid 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".
65.
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 Shahid Afridi scored a blistering 65 from just 25 balls.
66.
Shahid 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.
67.
Shahid Afridi subsequently withdrew from the touring squad, citing the illness of his father.
68.
Shahid Afridi filed a petition with the Sindh High Court to overturn the sanctions.
69.
Two weeks after his announcement, Shahid Afridi was included in Pakistan's squad to face Sri Lanka in three ODIs and a T20I.
70.
In November 2011, Shahid Afridi became the only cricketer to score a half-century and take five wickets on two separate occasions in ODIs.
71.
Shahid Afridi achieved this feat in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka which helped Pakistan to secure the one-day series.
72.
Shahid Afridi became the first person to play 50 T20Is.
73.
Shahid Afridi announced his retirement from ODI cricket after 2015 Cricket World Cup.
74.
Younis went on to accuse Shahid Afridi of being 'non-serious' in the game along with saying that he missed training sessions and meetings.
75.
Shahid Afridi said that Afridi showed poor performance with the bat, ball and as a captain and was clearly not listened to by other players.
76.
Shahid Afridi was asked to appear to the enquiry committee, made up of Misbah-ul-Haq and other iconic players, who would hear his view on the situation.
77.
Days after the match, Shahid Afridi posted a video on Twitter, in which he apologised to all his fans for the team's disappointing performance.
78.
Shahid Afridi said he didn't care about what others were saying about him and only wanted to answer to his fans and wanted to apologise for letting them and Pakistan down.
79.
Shahid Afridi said he wanted to "continue to play the game for my country".
80.
Shahid Afridi said it was unfair for them to announce their plans in the media, but then said that he wanted a farewell match, which didn't happen as a result of him cancelling a meeting regarding the issue with the PCB.
81.
Shahid Afridi went on to captain the side, after Eoin Morgan had to withdraw due to injury.
82.
On 24 December 2022, Shahid Afridi was named the interim chief selector of the Pakistani cricket team by the newly appointed PCB Chairman, Najam Sethi.
83.
Sethi had offered him a longer term but Shahid Afridi refused due to his commitments to charity work and his foundation.
84.
Shahid Afridi holds the record for having hit the most sixes in the history of ODI cricket.
85.
Shahid Afridi has moved about the batting order, and this lack of consistency has made it difficult for him to settle.
86.
On 22 August 2017, in his 256th Twenty20 match, Shahid Afridi hit his first century in the format, scoring 101 for Hampshire in the 2017 NatWest t20 Blast against Derbyshire and setting the highest T20 score by a batsman at the County Ground, Derby in the process.
87.
Shahid Afridi began his career as primarily a bowler, but after scoring the fastest century in his maiden ODI innings more was expected of him with the bat.
88.
Shahid Afridi took 541 International wickets in his career, most of which were from the ODI format.
89.
Afghani cricketer Rashid Khan has said that he grew up idolising Shahid Afridi and modelled Shahid Afridi's bowling action.
90.
In March 2014, Shahid Afridi established the Shahid Afridi Foundation which aims to provide healthcare and education facilities in Pakistan.
91.
Shahid Afridi was named among the world's most charitable athletes by Do Something in August 2015.
92.
On 23 March 2010, Shahid Afridi was awarded the Pride of Performance by President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari.
93.
In July 2016, Shahid Afridi said in an interview with BBC Urdu that there is no talent in Pakistan.
94.
Later, Shahid Afridi tried to clarify his statement by explaining that there is no competition among players in the present.
95.
On 6 September 2018, in a Defence Day event at Rawalpindi, Shahid Afridi was reportedly caught on the camera chewing tobacco.
96.
Shahid Afridi was highly criticised by the media for this.
97.
However, Shahid Afridi denied these claims and clarified that he had been eating fennel seeds and clove.
98.
On 30 April 2019, Shahid Afridi was sued by Master Beverages for violating agreement.
99.
In May 2019, Shahid Afridi stated that being a "conservative" and religious father, he had banned his daughters from playing outdoor sports.
100.
Shahid Afridi, who made his debut at 16 as per the records, had claimed that he was born in 1975 in his autobiography 'Game Changer'.
101.
Shahid Afridi later clarified that his autobiography's first edition carried the wrong year and it was confirmed that his year of birth was 1977.
102.
Shahid Afridi's claims created further controversy as this would have meant that Afghani batsman, Usman Ghani, would hold the record for the youngest centurion in ODI cricket which Shahid Afridi currently holds.