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Shahid Afridi Biography

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Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi, popularly known as Shahid Afridi, is a Pakistani cricketer. Between 1996 and 2012, Afridi played 27 Tests, 334 One Day Internationals, and 46 Twenty20 International 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.
He also holds the distinction of having hit the most number of sixes in the history of ODI cricket.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.Shahid Afridi has signed to play for the Sydney Thunderin Australia’s Twenty20 Big Bash league.
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); in October he reversed his decision. UNICEF and Pakistani authorities have taken Shahid Afridi on board for its anti-polio campaign in the tribal belt of lawless Waziristan region.

Nickname: Lala
D.O.B: March 1,1980,Khyber Agency,Karachi,Pakistan
Height: 5ft 11in (1.8M)
Family: Wife Nadiya Afridi, Daughter:Aqsa,Ansha,Ajwa
Batting Style: Right Hand Bat
Bowling Style: Right Arm Wrist Spin
Education: ..........College, University of Karachi
Interests: Golf, Swimming, Squash, Hunting

International Team: Pakistan
County Team: Hampshire
IPL Team: Deccan Chargers

Of Shahid Afridi it can safely be said that cricket never has and never will see another like him. To say he is an allrounder is to say Albert Einstein was a scientist; it tells a criminally bare story.
For a start, the slant of his all-round skills only became clear ten years into his career; he is a leg-spinning allrounder. Variety is his calling and as well as a traditional leg-break, he has two googlies, a conventional offie and a lethal faster one, though this is increasingly rare. All come with the threat of considerable, late drift. He fairly hustles through overs, which in limited-over formats is a weapon in itself and the package is dangerous.
In 2009 Afridi became one of the World’s most expensive cricketers in the IPL auction.

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi is a cricket player for the Pakistan National team. He exploded on to the cricket scene by scoring the fastest century in ODIs in his very first innings. He was initially selected as a bowler but after his big hitting in his 1st innings, he focused more on his batting. In recent years he has gone back to focusing on his bowling . His style of play is best suited to the shortest form of the game T20s.

Achievements:
Career Highlights of SHAHID AFRIDI :

(1) On 4 October 1996, playing his maiden international innings, Afridi hit the fastest One-Day century off 37 balls against Sri Lanka in Nairobi. His innings included 28 runs off one of Sanath Jayasuriya's overs, whose record he broke.

(2) Youngest player in history to make an ODI century at just 16 years and 217 days with his 37 ball ton against Sri Lanka. It included 11 sixes and 6 fours.

(3) Made a half-century from 26 balls and took 3 second-innings wickets in Pakistan's series- drawing Test victory against India in March 2005.

(4) Holds the joint record with Brian Lara for the third fastest ODI century off 45 balls in April 2005 against India. This actually was the first match that witnessed the Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Ravi Shastri make him the nickname Boom Boom Afridi.

(5) Equal highest aggregate sixes scored in the 50-over game, shared the legendary Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya, and he the most sixes per innings record.

(6) Scored four consecutive sixes off a Harbhajan Singh over in a Test match against India in January 2006, matching a feat that Kapil Dev achieved in 1990.

(7) Was the First player to score 12 runs off one ball, by hitting the roof of the Millennium Stadium. This took place in a game of Power Cricket.

(8) Holds four of the top eight fastest ODI half centuries, twice completed in 18 balls and twice in 20 balls. He has also scored a half century of just 21 balls.

(9) Made 32 runs off a Malinga Bandara over in an ODI game at Abu Dhabi in 2007. He struck four consecutive sixes and it was the 2nd most expensive over in ODI history.

(10) Afridi is only third player in ODI history to achieve the combination of 5000 runs and 200 wickets. The other players being Sri Lankan batsman Sanath Jayasuriya and South African Jacques Kallis.

(11) Bernie Geoffrion, a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach was also nicknamed "Boom Boom" Geoffrion.

His first appearance in an One Day International (ODI) came on October 2, 1996 at Nairobi in a match played against the Kenya cricket team. He rose to become an indispensable member of the Pakistani ODI squad with his remarkable performances since 1996. By making the fastest hundred runs (included six boundaries and eleven 6’s) of 37 balls in an ODI match against Sri Lanka, Shahid Afridi beat the record of Sanath Jayasuriya, a famous Sri Lankan cricketer, on October 4, 1996. He was just 16 years, when he performed this feat and was the youngest player to have achieved such an accomplishment. With Brian Lara, he shares a joint record for scoring the third fastest ODI century out of 45 balls against India in April 2005. By making four of the top eight fastest ODI half centuries, Shahid Afridi has made a mark for himself in the history of ODI cricket. In 2007, he scored 32 runs (including four consecutive sixes) off six balls against Sri Lanka at Abu Dhabi. The over was bowled by Malinga Bandara which is considered to the second most expensive over in the ODI history.

In March 2005, his Test performance with the bat and the ball played a key role in Pakistan’s encounter against India. Shahid Afridi made 50 runs out of 26 balls and walked away with three wickets in the second innings of a Test match claiming the victory for his team and brought the series to a draw. In January 2006, he smashed four consecutive sixes against Harbhajan Singh’s bowling in a Test match against India. On achieving a combination of 5000 runs and 200 wickets, Shahid Afridi is the third player (after Sanath Jayasuriya and Jacques Kallis, a South African cricketer) to accomplish such a feat in the ODI history.

For his commendable performances as a bowler of the Pakistan team in the international 2007 Twenty20, Shahid Afridi earned the Man of the Series award.

He represented the Deccan Chargers (DC) team under the captaincy of VVS Laxman, an Indian cricketer, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) of 2008. His sign-in price was $675,000 and played thirty matches for the DC team. Shahid Afridi scored 367 runs, which included 32 boundaries and 21 sixes with a strike rate of 171.49. By taking 35 wickets, the bowling average of Shahid Afridi was 20.05 at an economy rate of 6.81.