Shahid Khan Afridi

Born:1 March 1980, Khyber Agency Shahid Khan Afridi; called in as a last minute replacement leg spinner for the One Day Tournament in Kenya in 1996, amazed everyone by smashing a century off 37 balls after being promoted to one down.

The promise shown in his early batting in international cricket has gradually worn off due to poor self-control and perhaps team management. He has not been called upon to play regular first class cricket to improve his batting skills, instead has been made a regular pinch hitter who after a few defensive strokes begins lashing out regardless of line and length. This may have put a halt on his learning progress and he now needs to play far more carefully to retain his place in the team. The percentages were clearly against him and as he has so far failed to 'learn from experience', the tremendous expectations from him are subsiding. Afridi probably introduced the fastest spin delivery the game has seen in recent years. Delivering quick leg spinners with an occasional even quicker one, he surprised and beat many batsmen through his unorthodox bowling. But with exposure, batsmen have now got used to him and fewer wickets fall Afridi's way. Never a significant turner or flighter of the ball, he has now just become a run stopper in the middle of the innings rather than a wicket taker. Shahid Khan Afridi's extravagant bowling avg. (+45) and higher than average economy rate, coupled with his ever falling batting scores have begun to raise doubts and do not reflect the initial promise shown by this hugely popular youngster. Career: TESTS Debut Pakistan v Australia at Karachi, 3rd Test, 1998/99 Latest Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Karachi, 2nd Test, 1999/00 Bating: M I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St 8 15 0 497 141 33.13 68.45 1 2 5 - Bowling: O M R W Ave Best 5 10 SR Econ 138.4 28 448 16 28.00 5-52 1 - 52.0 3.23 One Day International Debut Pakistan v Kenya at Nairobi (AK), KCA Centenary Tournament 1996/97 Latest Pakistan v England at Rawalpindi, 3rd ODI, 2000/01 Batting M I NO Runs HS Ave 100 50 Ct St 120 116 4 2673 109 23.86 2 14 44 - Bowling O M R W Ave Best 4w 5w SR Econ 731.2 19 3450 78 44.23 5-40 - 1 56.2 4.71