Shaheen Shah Afridi (; born 6 April 2000) is a Pakistani international cricketer and former captain of the national T20I team. A left-arm fast bowler, he made his debut for Pakistan in 2018, and quickly became a leading figure, winning the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year in 2021, and becoming the first Pakistani to receive the

Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy is a Cricket trophy that is awarded annually by the International Cricket Council to the ICC Men's Cricketer of the Year. It is considered to be the most prestigious of the annual ICC Awards and was first awarded ...

. He starred in the

2019 Cricket World Cup The 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup was the 12th Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by men's national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament was hosted bet ...

and led

Lahore Qalandars Lahore Qalandars is a Pakistani professional cricket franchise which plays in the Pakistan Super League, representing Lahore, the capital of Punjab. They are the current champions of the PSL and the most successful team in the tournament's hist ...

to consecutive

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...

titles in 2022 and 2023, making them the first team to defend the title.He also led them to the title in PSL 2025 becoming the first captain to win 3 titles.

Early and personal life

Afridi was born on 6 April 2000 in

Landi Kotal Lanḍī Kōtal (, ) or Lwargai ( ''Lwāṛgai'') is a town in the Province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, and the administrative capital of Khyber District. It was one of the largest towns in the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, an ...

Khyber Agency Khyber District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in ...

of the

Federally Administered Tribal Areas The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from 1947 until being merged with the neighbouring province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018 through the ...

(present-day

Khyber District Khyber District (, ) is a district in the Peshawar Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas. With the merger of FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

) into a family belonging to the Zakhakhel Afridi tribe of the

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

. He grew up in his native Landi Kotal. He is the youngest of seven brothers; his eldest brother, 15 years his senior, is

Riaz Afridi Riaz Afridi (; born 21 January 1985) is a Pakistani cricket coach and cricketer. He is the elder brother of Pakistani fast bowler Shaheen Afridi, Shaheen Shah Afridi. He was a right-handed batting (cricket), batsman and a right-arm seam bowling ...

who played a solitary Test match for Pakistan in 2004. His cousin

Yasir Afridi Yasir Afridi (born 27 July 1988) is a Pakistani association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mehran FC, Mehran. Khan has been with Khan Research Laboratories F.C., Khan Research Laboratories where he won three Pakistan Premier ...

is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who has represented the

Pakistan national football team The Pakistan national football team () represents Pakistan in men's international Association football, football in FIFA-authorized events and is controlled by the Pakistan Football Federation, the governing body for football in Pakistan. Paki ...

. In March 2021, Afridi got engaged to

Shahid Afridi Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (, ; born 1 March 197is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. An all-rounder, Afridi was a right-handed leg spinner and a right-handed batsman. Afridi made ...

's daughter Ansha Afridi. On 3 February 2023, they married in a private

nikah In Islamic law, marriage is accomplished through the marriage contract, known as a () or more specifically, the bride's acceptance of the groom's dowry (''mahr'') and the witnessing of her acceptance. The contract has rights and obligatio ...

ceremony. On 24 August 2024, their first child was born, a son named Aliyaar Afridi. In July 2022, Afridi was made an honorary Deputy Superintendent of the Police (DSP) rank in the KP Police as a goodwill ambassador. In January 2023, it was announced that Afridi would design

' new kits for the

2023 PSL 2023 Pakistan Super League (referred to as HBL PSL 8 for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. Then PCB ch ...

Early career

Shaheen started his cricket career from the Tatara Ground in

, which is named after the nearby Tatara hills. Riaz Afridi introduced Shaheen to hard-ball cricket at the

FATA The Federally Administered Tribal Areas, commonly known as FATA, was a autonomous administrative division, semi-autonomous tribal region in north-western Pakistan that existed from Independence Day (Pakistan), 1947 until being merged with the ...

Under-16 trials in 2015, with Shaheen having played only tennis-ball cricket until then. Success at this level led to Shaheen being selected for the Under-16 tour of Australia in November 2015, where he played his part with four wickets in the 2–1 victories in the One-Day and Twenty20 series.

Domestic and franchise career

In December 2016, Afridi was included in the Pakistan Under-19 cricket team selected for the 2016 Under-19 Asia Cup held in Sri Lanka. He took 3 wickets for 27 runs in Pakistan's nine wickets win over Singapore in their opening match of the U-19 Asia Cup. In early September 2017, Afridi signed a two-year contract with Dhaka Dynamites, a major

Bangladesh Premier League Bangladesh Premier League (), also known as Dutch-Bangla Bank BPL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Bangladesh organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It was formed in 2011 by the BCB, after the su ...

franchise. Later he made his first-class debut for

Khan Research Laboratories The Dr. A. Q. Khan Research Laboratories (shortened as KRL), is a federally funded research and development laboratory located in Kahuta at a short distance from Rawalpindi in Punjab, Pakistan. Established in 1976, the laboratory is best know ...

in the

2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was the 60th edition of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan's domestic first-class cricket competition. It was contested by 16 teams representing eight regional associations and eight departments, and took place ...

on 26 September 2017. In the second innings of the match, he took 8 wickets for 39 runs, the best figures by a Pakistani bowler on first-class debut. In December 2017, Afridi was named in Pakistan's squad for the

2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament held in New Zealand from 13 January till 3 February 2018. It was the twelfth edition of the U19 World Cup, and the third to be held in New Zealand af ...

. He was the leading wicket-taker for Pakistan in the tournament, with 12 wickets. Following Pakistan's matches in the tournament, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) named Afridi as the rising star of the squad. Afridi made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

debut for

in the

2018 Pakistan Super League The 2018 Pakistan Super League (also known as PSL 3 or for sponsorship reasons, HBL PSL 2018) was the third season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board in 2015. It ...

(PSL) on 23 February 2018. The following month in the PSL, during Lahore's match with the

Multan Sultans Multan Sultans is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team representing Multan, a city in southern Punjab, in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team was founded in 2017 as an additional sixth team added to the PSL with contra ...

, Afridi took five wickets for four runs. Lahore won the fixture by 6 wickets and Afridi was named the player of the match. In April 2018, Afridi was named in

Baluchistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...

's squad for the

2018 Pakistan Cup The 2018 Pakistan Cup was the third edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 25 April to 6 May 2018, with all the matches played at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. Feder ...

. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut for Baluchistan on 25 April 2018. In July 2019, Afridi was selected to play for the Rotterdam Rhinos in the inaugural edition of the

Euro T20 Slam The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 100 ...

cricket tournament. However, the following month the tournament was cancelled. In December 2019, it was announced that Afridi will play for

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamp ...

in the

2020 T20 Blast The 2020 Vitality Blast was the eighteenth edition of the T20 Blast currently known as the Vitality Blast, a professional Twenty20 cricket league being played in England and Wales. run by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which was br ...

in England. In September 2020, Hampshire confirmed his participation in the 2020 T20 Blast, and announced that he will be available after fulfilling his national duties. On 20 September 2020, in the final round of group matches in the T20 Blast, Afridi took a hat-trick and four wickets in four balls, finishing with match figures of 6/19 from his four overs and recording the best ever bowling figures at the Rose Bowl in T20 cricket. On 2 October 2020, in the

2020–21 National T20 Cup The 2020–21 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Pakistan. It was the 17th season of the National T20 Cup, and started on 30 September 2020, and finished on 18 October 2020. Northern cricket team were ...

, Afridi took his second

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

in three T20 games, with figures of 5/20 from his four overs. Three days later, Afridi took another five-wicket haul, with 5/21 in the match against

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. In October 2021, Afridi signed with

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

to play in domestic matches in England until July 2022. However, he returned to Pakistan in mid-May to prepare for the national team's home series against the West Indies. In December 2021, he was named as the captain of Lahore Qalandars. Afridi later stated that

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi (born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician, philanthropist, and former cricketer who served as the 19th prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 until April 2022. He was the founder of the political party Pak ...

had suggested for him to become captain, which led to the change in captaincy. Under his captaincy, Qalandars won the

2022 PSL 2022 Pakistan Super League (referred to as HBL PSL 7 for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh season of the Pakistan Super League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league which was established by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in 2015. The tournam ...

, which made him the youngest captain to win a T20 league. He also ended the tournament as the leading wicket-taker. In December 2024, he was directly signed by the defending

Champion,

Fortune Barishal Fortune Barishal () is a franchise cricket team that plays in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), representing the country's Barishal Division. The team was originally established in 2012 for the inaugural BPL season as the Barisal Burners ...

, making his debut for them on the 30th of December.

International career

In March 2018, he was named in Pakistan's

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) squad for their series against the West Indies. He made his T20I debut for Pakistan against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

on 3 April 2018. In September 2018, he was named in Pakistan's

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) squad for the

2018 Asia Cup The 2018 Asia Cup (also known as Unimoni Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that was held in the United Arab Emirates in September 2018. It was the 14th edition of the Asia Cup and the third t ...

. He made his ODI debut for Pakistan against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

on 21 September 2018. In November 2018, he was named in Pakistan's

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

squad for their series against New Zealand. He made his Test debut for Pakistan against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

on 3 December 2018. In April 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the

. On 5 July 2019, in the match against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, Shaheen became the youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a World Cup match, finishing with figures of 6/35. These were also the best bowling figures by a bowler for Pakistan in a World Cup match. Following the World Cup, the

(ICC) named Afridi as the rising star of the squad. In December 2019, during the second Test match against Sri Lanka, Afridi took his first

in Test cricket. In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...

. In January 2022, Afridi was named the Cricketer of the Year by the

. He took 78 wickets in 36 international matches in 2021. In October 2023, he took a 5 wicket haul against Australia in the 2023 Cricket World Cup match. He finished the

2023 Cricket World Cup The 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup was the 13th edition of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). It was hosted from 5 October to 19 ...

with the sixth most wickets, taking 18 wickets in 9 matches. On 31 October, he became the fastest Pakistani bowler to get 100 wickets in ODIs, as well as the fastest pacer to do so. He achieved the feat in 51 matches, overtaking Saqlain Mushtaq, who took 53 matches to complete 100 wickets. On 15 November 2023, Afridi was appointed as T20I captain after Babar Azam resigned from captaincy in all three formats of the game. In May 2024, he was named in Pakistan’s squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament. In December 2024, he completed 100 T20Is wickets against South Africa, becoming only the third Pakistani to reach the mark, Additionally, he was the first Pakistani to reach 100 wickets in all three formats of international cricket, and the youngest bowler to do so.

Shaheen Afridi Featured in FIFA Tribute to Iconic No. 10 Athletes

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

’s star pacer

Shaheen Shah Afridi Shaheen Shah Afridi (; born 6 April 2000) is a Pakistani international cricketer and former captain of the national T20I team. A left-arm fast bowler, he made his debut for Pakistan in 2018, and quickly became a leading figure, winning the ICC ...

has been featured in an official

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

tribute celebrating legendary athletes associated with the iconic number 10 jersey, placing him alongside global football icons like

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

, Neymar Jr., and Luka Modrić. Shared via the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

Instagram account, the post titled “The iconic” marks a rare cricket-football crossover and underscores Afridi’s growing global recognition. Afridi, who wears number 10 for

and recently led them to a third

title, was highlighted for his leadership and charisma. The tribute is reportedly part of FIFA’s digital campaign to boost engagement in non-traditional football markets like

, signaling Afridi’s rising influence beyond

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Awards

* PCB's Impactful performance of the year: 2021 * ICC Men's cricketer of the Year, 2021.

References

External links

*
Shaheen Afridi
at

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afridi, Shaheen 2000 births Afridi people Baluchistan cricketers Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup Dhaka Dominators cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh Hampshire cricketers Khan Research Laboratories cricketers Lahore Qalandars cricketers Living people Middlesex cricketers Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen Pashtun cricketers People from Khyber District Cricketers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ICC Cricketer of the Year Welsh Fire cricketers Fortune Barishal cricketers