Shahid Afridi

Full name Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi

Born March 1, 1980, Khyber Agency

Major teams Pakistan, Asia XI, Deccan Chargers,

Fly Emirates XI, Griqualand West, Habib Bank Limited,

ICC World XI, Karachi, Leicestershire, South Australia

Playing role Allrounder

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Legbreak googly

Batting and fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
Tests	27	48	1	1716	156	36.51	1973	86.97	5	8	220	52	10	0
ODIs	312	293	18	6583	124	23.93	5787	113.75	6	31	602	288	101	0
T20Is	42	40	3	671	54*	18.13	464	144.61	0	3	55	26	12	0
First-class	111	183	4	5631	164	31.45			12	30			75	0
List A	403	381	21	9233	124	25.64			8	50			124	0
Twenty20	81	74	5	1274	54*	18.46	797	159.84	0	3	106	62	24	0

Bowling averages

	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	27	47	3194	1709	48	5/52	5/43	35.60	3.21	66.5	1	1	0
ODIs	312	287	13358	10343	292	6/38	6/38	35.42	4.64	45.7	2	3	0
T20Is	42	42	953	975	53	4/11	4/11	18.39	6.13	17.9	3	0	0
First-class	111		13493	7023	258	6/101		27.22	3.12	52.2		8	0
List A	403		17453	13501	396	6/38	6/38	34.09	4.64	44.0	3	5	0
Twenty20	81	81	1760	1865	98	4/11	4/11	19.03	6.35	17.9	4	0	0

Profile

Of Shahid Afridi it can safely be said that cricket never has and never will see another like him. To say he is an allrounder is to say Albert Einstein was a scientist; it tells a criminally bare story.

For a start, the slant of his all-round skills only became clear ten years into his career; he is a leg-spinning allrounder. Variety is his calling and as well as a traditional leg-break, he has two googlies, a conventional offie and a lethal faster one, though this is increasingly rare. All come with the threat of considerable, late drift. He fairly hustles through overs, which in limited-over formats is a weapon in itself and the package is dangerous.

But forever associated with him will be his madcap batting, the prospect of which is a crowd-puller the world over. He is a compulsive basher, literally unable to control his urges to slog every ball that comes his way, and not much of it is classical. Often spectacular results are at hand; he owns, for example, two of the fastest ODI hundreds, including the fastest one ever in his first innings ever at the age of 16. His career strike rates are nearly unmatched. But mostly, anywhere in the order, consistency has been missing.

Despite a healthy Test career, he gave up on the format in 2006, pre-empting men such as Andrew Flintoff, to maximise fully a limited-overs career. Twenty20 is something he could've been made for and he is probably the most lethal player of the format, having been player of the tournament for the inaugural edition of the World Twenty20 in 2007 and led Pakistan to the title two years later with matchwinning all-round hands in the semi and final.

Maturity has often threatened to gatecrash his career and leadership is a just reward, but it will not change much in a truly unique career.

WorldCup Profile

Forget the debate over whether Shahid Afridi will or should be captain of the ODI side; he remains the side's most talismanic player, capable of changing any game in a trice. Over the years, it is Afridi's leg-spin that has held him in better stead, providing not only a vital choke during the middle overs, but a serious wicket-taking threat. With the bat he remains as he was when he first arrived, capable of both ends of madness. Often he has threatened to become mature and sensible but it is generally a temporary state; don't discount his two ODI hundreds in the Asia Cup last year, in his first matches as captain.

Strengths

Good in the field, excellent with the ball and insane with the bat, Afridi is not short of strengths. Above all, he just has something in him that often takes a whole team, a whole game along with him.

Key stats

Afridi has scored three of the top six fastest centuries in ODIs, including the fastest which was made in 37 balls. He has also scored the second-fastest fifty- in 18 balls on two occasions

Afridi has hit 280 sixes in ODIs, the most by any player

Afridi is one of only three players who have scored over 5000 runs and picked up over 250 wickets in ODIs

World Cup tracker

Shahid Afridi has been a part of three World Cups, but averages 11 with the bat and nearly 40 with the ball.