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Shaheen bowling in the second ODI of Pakistan vs Australia 2022 photo by Afnan287YT –

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Shaheen Afridi

There is no denying the way that Shaheen Afridi’s true capacity is scaringly limitless, blessed with a tall gangling frame and the capacity to bowl quick. An endearing face perched on a two-meter body, Shaheen Afridi’s Story is trademark Pakistani Born 0n 6 April 2000 in Landi Kotal at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Afridi is a Pakistani professional cricketer who plays as a fast bowler for the Pakistan National cricket team. He made his international debut for Pakistan in April 2018 and his Test Match debut for the national team in December 2018.

Like his renowned namesake, Mitchell Starc, the Australian fast bowler, Shaheen can hit the ball hard with the bat in hand, add to this his assortment as a left-arm bowler and you know why there is immense excitement around this man in Pakistan. Viewed as quite possibly one of the tallest bowlers in Pakistani cricket history, his essential role in the team is that of a bowler.

However, he is a trying all-rounder and dubbed the “Pakistani Mitchell Starc”, contrasting him and the Australian fast bowler. Let鈥檚 take a closer look at Shaheen Afridi and outline 10 interesting facts about the 22-year-old paceman.

1. He grew up playing tennis ball cricket

Photo by Yogendra Singh on

Despite being extremely passionate about cricket from his childhood, he was mostly into tennis ball cricket. He grew up playing tennis ball cricket in the rocky hills of Landi Kotal, a tribal area that shares its borders with Afghanistan. Before his interest in cricket was driven by his elder brother, Riaz.

Riaz Afridi introduced Shaheen to hard-ball cricket at the FATA Under-16 trials in 2015.

2. Afridi’s brother is  former Pakistan bowler, Riaz Afridi

Former Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram photo by India Inclusion Summit –

Born in a family of seven, Shaheen is the youngest of the lot and arguably, the most skilled as well. He was mostly into tennis ball cricket before being guided into the real deal by his eldest brother Riaz, a one-test wonder for Pakistan.

Riaz has also been Shaheen鈥檚 inspiration and mentor. Shaheen Afridi is a huge fan of his brother Riaz, who played a friendly test match for Pakistan back in 2004.

He has reportedly stated that although he considers Wasim Akram to be his 鈥済uru鈥�, his brother Riaz has always supported and guided him whenever he needed instant tips.

3. He Nearly quit cricket

Although Shaheen is a household name in international cricket and easily comes out to be a talented fast bowler, he was about to quit playing professional cricket in 2017. This was a year before making his international debut.

Shaheen thought of hanging his boots after he played a few bad matches for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League season 2017.

He however switched this decision and decided to continue playing. Former Pakistani fast bowler Aaqib Javed revealed this in an interview with cricket Pakistan in 2020.

4. Afridi played for Pakistan under-19 cricket team at 16 years!

Catherine (Duchess of Cambridge), Shaheen Afridi photo by BBC News –

Shaheen was selected to play for the Pakistan Under-19 cricket team at the age of 16 years. This was even before he debuted in first-class cricket. In December 2016, he played in the 2016 under-19 Asia cup.

The match was held in Sri Lanka where Afridi took 3 wickets for 27 runs in the first match against Singapore. After the Asia Cup, he was selected for the Bangladesh Premier League.

5. Shaheen holds the record for best bowling figures

He made his first-class debut in 2017- 2018. He also has the best bowling figures of 8 for 39 in the Quaid e- Azam Trophy by a Pakistani bowler on his first-class debut.

6. He represented Pakistan in 2018 as the first 2000s-born cricketer

Catherine (Duchess of Cambridge), Pakistani cricketers photo by BBC News –

Afridi was the first cricketer born in the 2000s to represent Pakistan when making his T20I debut in April 2018. He had previously been selected for his first international tour after claiming 5-4 in a PSL fixture for Lahore Qalanders, again aged just 18.

7. He took the 5-wicket haul in a world cup

Shaheen holds the record for being the youngest player to take a 5-Wicket haul in a world cup at the age of 19. He achieved this in the 2019 ICC world cup against the Bangladesh cricket team with figures of 6/35

8. Shaheen Once made a controversial racist comment

In 2019, Shaheen created a controversy after he made an alleged racist comment at a Pakistani journalist during a press meeting after a match.

When the journalist sitting at the conference asked him a question, he replied, 鈥�Thoda light apne aap pe Karein, Thoda sa Nazar Aaye Mujhe鈥� translated to English as 鈥淧lease throw some light on yourself so that I may see you鈥�.

9. Afridi is ranked second most impactful player in 2020

 Afridi excelled during the 2020 Pakistan super league, taking 13 Wickets which saw him ranked the most impactful player of the group stage behind the Southern Brave鈥檚 Shadab Khan.

Afridi registered many notable performances throughout the tournament with figures of 4-18 against Islamabad United a particular highlight.

10. Afridi was awarded Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy

Photo by Ariel on

He was awarded The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (cricketer of the year) in the year 2021. He was later on named in ICC men鈥檚 T20I team of the year 2021.

There is something else to him besides his story, notwithstanding how convincing that might be by its own doing. He has the knowledge to exploit his height to extract bounce on the docile pitches of cricket.

Most stunningly, he can hit a decent prolonged period once more and seems to have the demeanour for a long career at this level. There have been complimenting correlations as of now, with Pakistani boasting a rich tradition of left-arm fast bowling.

In truth, he is nothing similar to Wasim Akram or Mohammad Amir, both of whom were shorter bowlers who depended more on swing than bounce. Mickey Arthur has made a contemporary correlation with Mitchell Starc maybe being the most accurate comparison and this is just only an impressive follow-up to a spectacular cricket career. However, for Shaheen, this is simply yet a glimpse of great things to come!