Shaheen
Shah Afridi is a Pakistani international cricketer and one of the country’s
brightest young fast-bowlers. Shaheen was born on April 6, 2000, in Pakistan’s Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province as the youngest in a family of seven. His elder brother Riaz, who has played one Test match for
Pakistan, has played a big part in his cricketing journey and has been Shaheen’s inspiration.
Shaheen’s
career path so far has been nothing short of meteoric, rising up the ranks in
no time at all to find himself playing international cricket as a teenager. His
transition was helped by the Pakistan Super League, which gave youngsters like
himself an opportunity to play alongside some of the best.
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He broke into
Pakistan’s T20I setup as a promising 17-year-old against the West Indies in
April, 2018. Although he went wicketless in that match, he impressed with his skill
set. He was on the selectors’ radar and earned his maiden ODI call-up later
that year in the Asia Cup, where he took two wickets on his debut against Afghanistan.
Shaheen
kept his place for the 2019 World Cup in England and once again raised eyebrows
with his performances, using variations effectively to finish the tournament
with 16 wickets from just five matches at an average of 14.62. His wickets
included a five-wicket and a four-wicket haul, as he was one of the few
positives to emerge from a disappointing tournament for Pakistan.
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He made his
Test debut against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi in December 2018. Shaheen has 99 wickets from 42 Test innings, recording his best innings figures of 6/51 against
West Indies in August 2021. His best match figures also came in that game, taking
four more wickets in the second innings to finish with figures of 10/94.
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In ODIs, he
has 62 wickets from 31 innings, and in T20Is, he has 47 wickets from 40 innings.
