Introduction

Shahid Afridi is a famous former Pakistani all-rounder cricketer and captain of the Pakistani national cricket team. Furthermore, he is a right-handed batsman and leg spinner. While he is one of the favorite cricketers of Pakistan and Pakistani people love his boundaries, especially Sixes. Shahid Afridi was born on 1 March 1980 in Khyber Agency and now he lives in Karachi.

Furthermore, in 1996, he made his international ODI cricket debut against Kenya, and in his second match. While he broke the record for the fastest century and did a century on just 37 balls against Sri Lanka. Afridi’s record of the fastest century in an ODI lasts for many years and broke by Corey Anderson in 2014.  In 2006, he made his T20 debut against England.

Performance of Afridi in T20 world cup

In 2009, Afridi got the man of the match in the final of the T20 world cup. Therefore Pakistan won the world cup first time in history under the captaincy of Younus Khan. After that, Younus Khan announced his retirement from international cricket and Afridi become the captain of the Pakistan cricket team.

Afridi is famous for his aggressive batting style and got the nickname Boom Boom from an Indian cricketer. He retired on 31 May 2018 from the National cricket team.  After that, Afridi also played Pakistan Super League (PSL). While in his first PSL, he was part of the Peshawar Zalmi team. Then, he changed his team and played in Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans as well.  

Cricket Career of Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi was 16 years old when his journey as a cricketer began. In 1996, he played his first ODI against Kenya where he didn’t bowl and scored only two runs. Shahid Afridi’s outstanding performance occurred in his second ODI. When he defeated Sri Lanka in Nairobi, Kenya, and recorded the fastest century in cricket’s history off just 37 balls.

In 2014, Corey Anderson of New Zealand broke this record before it stood for more than 17 years. Shahid Afridi is well-known in the world due to his unique batting style. While he is also a leg spinner. Very soon he becomes a permanent member of the Pakistan Team. While in the 1999 world cup, he performs outstandingly with bowling and gets the highest no of wickets.

In the same tournament, Shahid Afridi also made a significant century against Sri Lanka in the group stage. In the early part of Afridi’s career, his performance was inconsistent. His aggressive style of batting and bowling made way to criticism, but his fans loved his flamboyant style of play. Afridi’s capability to hit the ball out of the stadium earned him the nickname “Boom Boom,” a mark that has stuck with him to this day.

Captaincy and Retirement of Shahid Afridi

In 2010, Afridi was selected as captain of the Pakistan cricket team, and his leader had destined to victory in the 2011 World Cup. However, Afridi always stood in controversy while in his captaincy. He was identified for his spontaneous decision-making and often criticized for his discipline and strategic planning. Afridi was also a part of several off-field controversies, which includes a dispute with team management over the selection of players.

Afridi was laid off from his captaincy and thrown down from the team after he criticized publicly the Pakistan Cricket Board for his contract in 2011. Afridi’s fans protested against his exclusion from the team and PCB was forced to return him to the team for a series against Sri Lanka. Afridi’s career was marred by controversy, and he was also involved in numerous on-field altercations with opposition players. He was repeatedly criticized for his unpredictable performances and was dropped from the team on many occasions.

Retirement

In 2016, Afridi retired from international cricket after playing 99 T20Is, 27 Test matches, and 398 ODI matches, in his career, he scored one thousand, one hundred and seventy-six (1,176) test runs, eight thousand and sixty-four (8,064) ODI runs, and one thousand seven hundred and sixteen (1,716) T20I runs. Afridi was also the best spinner bowler and he took 395 wickets in ODI, 98 wickets in T20I, and 48 wickets in Test matches. The people of Pakistan will always remember his memorable innings and aggressive batting style.

Foundation of Shahid Afridi

In 2014, Shahid Afridi starts a charity foundation which is a nonprofit organization, and the name of the foundation is Shahid Afridi foundation. The aim of this foundation is to help and support those communities of Pakistan that are underprivileged and the main focus is on health, pure water, and education. The utmost priority of this foundation is education.

One of the aims of his foundation is to provide pure water to underprivileged societies as water is the most essential part of our lives. Moreover, in this foundation, the main focus is on the education of females and his daughter has also delivered a speech on the importance of education. The foundation of Afridi has established different schools in remote areas of Pakistan. This facility is for those children who are unable to join the schools.

Afridi’s foundation also provides scholarships to those students who demonstrate an excellent academic record but are financially unstable to continue their higher education. Furthermore, this foundation also works for the healthcare of the Pakistani people to provide good and better health facilities to them.

Shahid Afridi foundation

For this, his foundation built a hospital in a backward area of Pakistan. The foundation provides several essential services for people who do not afford them. Which includes medical equipment and supplies to hospitals and clinics in remote areas, and offers free medical camps.

The clean water initiative is also a critical area of focus for this foundation. Shahid Afridi Foundation has implemented many different projects to provide clean water for drinking purposes. For this purpose construction of water wells and water pump installation. The Afridi Foundation delivers aid to any emergency relief in natural disasters and crises across the country.

In summary, the foundation of Afridi has improved the lives of unprivileged societies in Pakistan by improving the quality of education, water, and healthcare. The main aim of this foundation is to give hope to the life of people in Pakistan. May Allah succeed and help him in his pure intentions.

Personal Life of Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi belongs to a religious family and has 10 siblings 4 sisters and 5 brothers. He was married to his cousin Nadia Afridi. He has been blessed with five daughters and their names are Aqsa, Ajwa, Ansha, Asmara, and Arwa. Recently, his two daughters, Aqsa and Ansha have been got married.

One of his daughters, Ansha Afridi married to Pakistani cricketer Shaheen Afridi and on her wedding, Afridi tweeted an emotional statement regarding Father and daughter love. In addition, he frequently shares his pics with his family and daughters on different events such as Eids, Jashan-e-Azadi, and Kashmir Day.

 Patriotic life of Afridi

He is a patriotic and religious person. The role model of Afridi is Holy Prophet. However, in cricket, he was inspired by Imran Khan and Javed Mian Daad. Afridi does not want to join a political party like Imran Khan.  His friends and colleagues called him Lala. The favorite dishes of Afridi are biryani and kheer. His favorite color is light brown. If he did not join the cricket team, then he would be in Pakistan Army.

His favorite actresses are Reema Khan and Madhuri. Shahid Afridi also writes a book and the name of his book is Game changer. In his book, he writes about all his journeys in cricket and the issues of his life. In his book, he also wrote about his original year of birth which was 1975.  Moreover, he has also launched his brand of clothes along with the foundation.

Conclusion

Shahid Afridi is very famous in Pakistan due to his personality and power-hitting. Furthermore, he has a successful and brilliant career in the field of cricket. Afridi has played a lot of memorable innings and the people of Pakistan always want a cricketer like him on the team. The nickname of Shahid Afridi is Boom Boom, due to hitting sixes. Cricket and always misses his batting style. After his cricket, he also starts his foundation to help the poor people of Pakistan and provide better facilities to them. Thus, the life and career of Afridi have had a great impact on the cricket of the world.