Shahid Afridi

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	Tests	ODIs
Shahid Afridi Pakistan (Pak)

Batting style	Right hand bat
Bowling type	Right arm Medium (RM), Legbreak googly
Matches	26	236
Runs scored	1683	4974
Batting average	37.40	23.24
100s/50s	5/8	4/27
Top score	156	109
Balls bowled	3092	9231
Wickets	47	198
Bowling average	34.89	35.82
5 wickets in innings	1	2
10 wickets in match	-	n/a
Best bowling	5/52	5/11
Catches/stumpings	10/-	83/-
As of February 7, 2007 Source: Cricinfo.com

Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (Urdu: صاحبزادہ محمد شاہد خان آفریدی) (born 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency to Pashtun parents of the Afridi tribe in kohat ) popularly known as Shahid Afridi is a Pakistani cricketer and all-rounder who has represented Pakistani cricket since 1996 at international level. He made his ODI debut on October 2, 1996 against Kenya at Nairobi [1] and his Test debut on October 22, 1998 against Australia at Karachi.[2]

1 Style
2 International career
3 Temporary Test retirement and return
4 Career Highlights
- 4.1 Test Centuries
- 4.2 One Day International Centuries
5 Controversies
- 5.1 Pitch-tampering
- 5.2 Spectator Incident
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Style

His general style of batting is very aggressive and attack oriented and has earned him the nickname "Boom Boom Afridi" by the Indian commmentator and former player Ravi Shastri. He has an ODI strike rate of 108.69 runs per 100 balls, the highest in the game history. This attitude has been transferred to Test cricket as well, with Afridi scoring at a strike rate of 86.13 in Tests, even higher than that of Adam Gilchrist. He has an approach to batting that can change the tempo of a game and inspire the mood of an audience, as shown when a mass exodus of spectators occurred in Pakistan in late 2005 following his dismissmal from the crease. He hits many sixes long and high, favoring straight down the ground or over midwicket. A trademark shot is a crossbatted flick to the leg-side to a ball outside off stump. [3]. This explosive style has lead to some memorable shots, most notably the first ever 12 in power cricket in 2002, where Afridi successfully hit the roof. [4] However, his aggressive style increases his risk of getting out and he is one of the most inconsistent batsmen in cricket. This is reflected by the fact that he is likely to become the only player to score more than 5000 One-day International runs at an average under 25.[5]

Bowling-wise, his stock ball is the leg break, but his armory also includes the conventional off break and a 'quicker one' which he can deliver at nearly 80 mph in the style of a medium-pacer. He bowls at a high speed for a spinner, resulting in lesser turn, relying more on variations in speed. He occasionally sends down a bouncer to a batsmen. [6]

[edit] International career

In October 1996 at the age of sixteen he was brought into the ODI team as a legspinner as a replacement for the injured Mushtaq Ahmed. He then gained notability as a pinch-hitter and began opening with Saeed Anwar. He holds the record for scoring the fastest century in One Day Internationals (off 37 balls)[7], scored in his 2nd match and first ODI innings. He also shares with Brian Lara the record for the third fastest century in ODIs (off 45 balls). One of Pakistan's most useful all-rounders, his extremely aggressive batting style has garnered him over 4,500 ODI runs (including a world-record 224 sixes) as well as taking over 193 ODI wickets and 47 at Test level.

For various reasons, including a perception that he lacks patience in his batting, Afridi had limited opportunity in Test matches. However, 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 (including Sachin Tendulkar twice) to help Pakistan win the game and register a series draw.[8]

It is perceived that his batting struggles on bouncy pitches and against opponents like Australia, although his record against the Australians has improved over time. Though he has had success as an opener on sub-continent pitches, Afridi is often moved into the middle order as well.

Afridi was more consistent with his batting and bowling throughout 2005, starting from the tours of India and West Indies and into the England tour. The Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer helped Afridi to reach a fuller potential by improving his shot selection and giving him a free reign over his batting attitude.

[edit] Temporary Test retirement and return

On April 12, 2006, Shahid Afridi announced a temporary retirement from Test cricket until after the 2007 World Cup so that he could concentrate on ODIs. Even then his performance in county cricket for Ireland recently had declined and he bowled better than he batted. He also claimed that the workload was too much to cope with.

However, on April 27, 2006, after much discussion with Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach, Afridi reversed his decision. Despite this, Afridi was later dropped from the Test team in early August 2006 after three quick-fire innings against England. He was placed well down the batting order, away from his more usual spot in the middle-order, and displayed flamboyantly reckless strokeplay on the bouncy English pitches, leading to short but entertaining innings.

[edit] Career Highlights

In his only 2nd ODI match hit a record 37-ball hundred against Sri Lanka on his debut innings in October 1996, scoring 28 runs off a Sanath Jayasuriya over on the way to beating the Sri Lankan's own century record. [9]

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. [10]

Holds the joint record with Brian Lara for the third fastest ODI century off 45 balls in April 2005 against India. [11]

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. [12]

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.

Holds the world record for hitting the most number of sixes in One-Day Internationals (224) jointly with Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya.

[edit] Test Centuries

In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

Test Centuries of Shahid Afridi
	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	141	2	India	Chennai, India	MA Chidambaram Stadium	1999
[2]	107	12	West Indies	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	Sharjah C.A. Stadium	2002
[3]	122	18	West Indies	Bridgetown, Barbados	Kensington Oval	2005
[4]	103	21	India	Lahore, Pakistan	Gaddafi Stadium	2006
[5]	156	22	India	Faisalabad, Pakistan	Iqbal Stadium	2006

[edit] One Day International Centuries

In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

One Day International Centuries of Shahid Afridi
	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	102	2	Sri Lanka	Nairobi, Kenya	Gymkhana Club Ground	1996
[2]	109	65	India	Toronto, Canada	Toronto CSCC	1998
[3]	108*	146	New Zealand	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	Sharjah C.A. Stadium	2002
[4]	102	204	India	Kanpur, India	Green Park	2005

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Pitch-tampering

On 21 November 2005, Shahid Afridi was banned for a Test match and two one-day internationals for deliberately damaging the pitch in the second match of the three-Test series against England. TV cameras pictured him scraping his boots on the pitch scuffing surface when play was held up after a gas canister exploded. Afridi later pleaded guilty to a level three breach of the ICC code of conduct relating to the spirit of the game. Inquiries were made and Afridi's antics came into view. He was investigated and banned after the day's play, along with receiving a huge amount of criticism from the cricketing world for bringing the game into disrepute. Match referee Roshan Mahanama said: "This ban should serve as a message to players that this type of behaviour is not allowed." On this Afridi accepted his fault and said that a "senior player like me should set good examples to others because they see us to learn." His behaviour was also condemned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. [13][14][15]

[edit] Spectator Incident

Afridi was charged on February 8th 2007 of bringing the game into disrepute after he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who abused him on his way up the steps after being dismissed. Replays seemed to show that the action was not meant to cause injury, though the spectator had to move out of the way to avoid light contact. Afridi was found guilty and given a 4 game ODI suspension, the minimum possible ban for such an offense, meaning that he would miss Pakistan's first two 2007 World Cup matches. The PCB and Afridi chose not to appeal the ban, despite feeling that the punishment was excessively harsh. It should be noted that the South African Cricket administrators and the spectator were both also rebuked for playing a part in the causation of the incident. [16]

[edit] See also

Pakistan cricket team

[edit] External links

Pakistan squad - 2007 Cricket World Cup

Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were named in the original squad but withdrew from the tournament.
Mushtaq Ahmed acted as temporary coach for Pakistan's final group game following the death of Bob Woolmer.

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