Early years In October 1996, Afridi was drafted into the ODI team during the four-nation
Sameer Cup 1996–97 as a replacement for the injured
Mushtaq Ahmed. He made his debut on 2 October against
Kenya; however, he didn't bat and went wicketless. In the next match against
Sri Lanka, Afridi batted at
number three in the role of a
pinch-hitter. In his first international innings, Afridi broke the record for fastest century in ODI cricket, reaching his hundred from 37 balls. The eleven sixes he struck also equaled the record for most in an ODI innings. Pakistan posted a total of 371, at the time the second-highest in ODIs, and won by 82 runs; Afridi was named man of the match. in June 2009 Two years after his international debut, Afridi made his Test debut in the third game of a three-match
series against Australia on 22 October 1998. By this point he had already played 66 ODIs, at the time a record before playing Tests. He opened the batting, making scores of 10 and 6, and took five wickets in the first innings. Again opening the batting, Afridi scored his maiden Test century, scoring 141 runs from 191 balls. In the same match he also claimed three wickets for 54 runs. After winning the first match by 12 runs, Pakistan lost the second to draw the series.
Rise in significance Afridi made his presence felt in the third Test against
India in March 2005, scoring a quick-fire second-innings half-century and taking five wickets in the match (including Tendulkar twice) to help
Pakistan to win the game and register a series draw. In April, Afridi struck what at the time was the equal second-fastest century in ODIs; he reached 100 off 45 deliveries against India, sharing the record with West Indian
Brian Lara. Afridi was more consistent with his batting and bowling throughout 2005. Pakistan's coach,
Bob Woolmer, helped Afridi to reach a fuller potential by improving his shot selection and giving him free rein over his batting attitude. On 12 April 2006, Afridi announced a temporary retirement from Test cricket so that he could concentrate on ODIs, with a particular focus on the
2007 World Cup, and to spend more time with his family. He said he would consider reversing his decision after the World Cup. Afridi had played ten Tests since being recalled to the team in January 2005, averaging 47.44 with the bat including four centuries. However, on 27 April he reversed his decision, saying that "[Woolmer] told me that I am one of the main players in the team and squad and that Pakistan really needed me". Before Pakistan
toured England in July to September, Afridi played for
Ireland as an overseas player in the
C&G Trophy. and took seven wickets. England won the four-match Test series 3–0; Afridi played two matches, scoring 49 runs and took three wickets. It was the last Test cricket Afridi played until 2010. Afridi was charged on 8 February 2007 of bringing the game into disrepute after he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who swore at him on his way up the steps after being dismissed. Afridi was given a four-game ODI suspension, the minimum possible ban for such an offence, meaning that he would miss Pakistan's first two 2007 World Cup matches. The PCB and Afridi chose not to appeal the ban, despite feeling that the punishment was excessively harsh. In the
2007 World Twenty20, he didn't perform well in terms of batting but ended the tournament as the joint-second highest wicket taker, earning the Man of the Series award. In the
final he failed to take a wicket in the final and was out for a golden duck. He also became the first person to receive the Player of the Tournament award in T20 World Cup history. But in the
next T20 World Cup, Afridi performed well, scoring 50 runs in the semi-final and 54 in the final which lead to Pakistan winning the World Cup.
Captaincy (2009–2011) Shortly after Pakistan won the
2009 ICC World Twenty20, the captain:
Younis Khan, announced his retirement from Twenty20 cricket. The
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) subsequently announced that Shahid Afridi had taken over as captain in T20Is; the appointment was initially for one match, with a decision on the permanent replacement to be made later. His spell of 6–38 against Australia in 2010 was voted as the Best ODI Bowling Performance of 2009 by ESPNcricinfo. On 31 January 2010, Afridi was caught on camera biting into the ball towards the end of the 5th
Commonwealth Bank ODI
series in Australia. Later Afridi pleaded guilty to
ball tampering and he was banned from two
Twenty20 internationals. In March 2010 the board announced that Shahid Afridi had been appointed ODI captain in place of the sacked
Mohammad Yousuf. He led Pakistan in the
2010 Asia Cup and during his first three matches as ODI captain he scored two centuries against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh he finished as the tournaments highest runscorer with 265 runs from 3 matches. On 25 May 2010, Afridi was appointed captain of the national team in all three formats, after he announced his return to Test cricket. In July 2010, Afridi captained Pakistan in the first Test of the series at
Lord's against Australia. He scored 31 off 15 deliveries in the first innings and 2 in the second but was dismissed succumbing to rash strokes in both the innings. After the match, he announced retirement from Test cricket again citing lack of temperament for Test cricket as the reason. Afridi was officially removed from the Test squad on the England tour, but after the
spot-fixing scandal saw
Mohammad Asif,
Mohammad Amir and Test captain
Salman Butt temporarily suspended by the
International Cricket Council, he stated that he might return to Test cricket if "the team needs it". According to a representative of Afridi, he had voiced his concerns about Mazhar Majeed – who had approached Pakistan's players – in June. Majeed also confirmed that he approached Afridi,
Abdul Razzaq,
Younis Khan and
Saeed Ajmal but all off them refused to be affiliated with him of his fixing menace. No disciplinary action was taken against them by the
ICC. In October, Afridi stated in an interview with
Express News that the squad for the
series against South Africa had been selected without his consultation; the PCB gave him an official warning for the interview. Coach
Waqar Younis also expressed his unhappiness at having no input in the selection; however,
Mohsin Khan, the chief selector, defended the decision, stating, "it is not written down in the PCB constitution that the coach and captain(s) must have a say in the selection of any squad". Pakistan lost the series 3–2. The team
toured New Zealand between December 2010 and February 2011 for two Tests, six ODIs, and three T20Is. Pakistan lost the first two T20Is but won the third; in final match Afridi became the first cricketer to reach 50 international wickets in the format. In the same match, he also became the first cricketer to have completed the double of 500 runs and 50 wickets in the T20 Internationals. When Pakistan's squad for the 2011 World Cup was announced no captain was named; Afridi, the incumbent ODI captain and
Misbah-ul-Haq, the Test captain, were the front runners for the position. Pakistan lost the first match against New Zealand by 8-wickets, the second match got rained out and in the third Mohammad Hafeez scored a century and Afridi scored a blistering 65 from just 25 balls. The following match was a tight game but Pakistan prevailed by two-wickets thanks to three boundaries from Sohail Tanvir, the match was set up by a 93 not out from Misbah-ul-Haq. The fifth ODI was won for Pakistan by 43 runs courtesy of a maiden ODI-century from Ahmed Shehzad. Afridi helped in the lower order by scoring 24 and taking two crucial top order wickets to help guide Pakistan to a 43-run victory and their first ODI series win in two years. After gaining victory as a captain against New Zealand, the PCB declared Shahid Afridi as Pakistan's captain for the 2011 World Cup. In Pakistan's opening match of the tournament, Afridi took 5 wickets for 16 runs against
Kenya, giving him the best bowling figures by a Pakistan bowler in a World Cup. In the following match against Sri Lanka, which Pakistan won, Afridi claimed four more wickets to help his team to victory and became the second player to have scored 4,000 runs and taken 300 wickets in ODIs. He claimed 17 wickets from 6 matches in the first round of the Cup, including a five-wicket haul against Canada, as Pakistan finished top of their group and progressed to the next stage. After beating the West Indies in the quarter-final, with Afridi taking four wickets, Pakistan were knocked out of the semi-finals in a 29-run defeat to India. Afridi was the tournament's joint-leading wicket-taker with 21 wickets, level with India's
Zaheer Khan, even though Afridi had played one match less than him. Soon after the World Cup Pakistan
toured the West Indies for a T20I, five ODIs, and two Tests. Pakistan lost the only T20I but won the ODI series that followed 3–2. Afridi took two wickets and scored 28 runs in the series. The coach, Waqar Younis, fell out with Afridi and in his report on the tour criticised Afridi, saying "as a captain he is very immature, has poor discipline, lacks a gameplan and is unwilling to listen to others' opinions or advice". After the series, on 19 May, the PCB replaced Afridi as ODI captain with Misbah-ul-Haq for the two-match ODI series against Ireland later that month. In 34 ODIs as captain, Afridi led his team to 18 wins and 15 defeats. Afridi subsequently withdrew from the touring squad, citing the illness of his father.
Conditional retirement and return (2011–2015) On 30 May, Afridi announced his conditional retirement from international cricket in protest against his treatment by the
PCB. The condition on his return was that the board be replaced. The PCB suspended Afridi's central contract, fined him 4.5 million rupees ($52,300), and revoked his no-objection certificate (NOC) which allowed Afridi to play for Hampshire. Afridi filed a petition with the
Sindh High Court to overturn the sanctions. On 15 June, Afridi withdrew his petition after an out of court settlement and the PCB reinstated his NOC. When the PCB's central contracts were renewed in August, Afridi's was allowed to lapse. In October he withdrew his retirement as Ijaz Butt had been replaced as chairman of the PCB. Two weeks after his announcement, Afridi was included in Pakistan's squad to face Sri Lanka in
three ODIs and a T20I. In November 2011, Afridi became the only cricketer to score a half-century and take five wickets on two separate occasions in ODIs. Afridi achieved this feat in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka which helped Pakistan to secure the one-day series. He also became the first person to play 50 T20Is. In 2013 during the
first ODI game against the West Indies in Guyana, Afridi scored 76(55) before taking figures of 7/12, the
second best ODI bowling figures ever. In July 2014, he played for the Rest of the World team in the
Bicentenary Celebration match at
Lord's. Afridi announced his retirement from ODI cricket after
2015 Cricket World Cup. Pakistan lost to
Australia in the
quarter-final and got eliminated from the tournament.
2016 ICC World Twenty20 In March 2016, Pakistan was unable to make it to the semi-finals in the
2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing to New Zealand, India and Australia. Before Australia's match, the PCB hinted at Afridi's retirement. However, he went against their decision after the match and announced that he would make the decision himself after consulting family and other iconic players beforehand and also announce it in Pakistan. He also stated that 'as a player, I am fit. As a captain, I am not fit'. Former Australian player
Ian Chappell praised his honesty in this confession.
Waqar Younis, the head coach, was initially blamed and he accepted responsibility and offered to retire. However, a six-page report by Younis was later leaked by the PCB to the media where he was shown to be pointing much of the blame onto Afridi. First Younis claimed that Afridi was 'unfair' to new cricketer Mohammad Nawaz by calling him up to bowl in the Asia Cup 2016 because it 'destroyed the youngster's confidence' after he gave 38-runs in 3 overs. Younis went on to accuse Afridi of being 'non-serious' in the game along with saying that he missed training sessions and meetings. He also said that Afridi showed poor performance with the bat, ball and as a captain and was clearly not listened to by other players. Younis expressed great anger on the report being leaked as it led to fans criticising him for shifting the blame onto Afridi instead of accepting equal responsibility. Manager
Intikhab Alam also called Afridi 'clueless' in the 3 matches but said Younis was unable to ensure that the players were physically fit. Afridi was asked to appear to the enquiry committee, made up of Misbah-ul-Haq and other iconic players, who would hear his view on the situation. However, it was said he refused to until it was revealed that his daughter was in hospital undergoing surgery at the time. He opted to be interviewed by phone. Days after the match, Afridi posted a video on Twitter, in which he apologised to all his fans for the team's disappointing performance. He said he didn't care about what others were saying about him and only wanted to answer to his fans and wanted to apologise for letting them and Pakistan down. Despite earlier criticism, many fans supported him. Even during his arrival from Dubai back to Pakistan, a few days after the rest of the team, fans chanted 'Boom Boom Afridi' at the airport amidst high security. In April 2016, he finally announced he was stepping down as T20I captain, but was not retiring. He said he wanted to "continue to play the game for my country".
Sarfraz Ahmed was appointed as Pakistan's T20I captain following Afridi's resignation.
Retirement In September 2016, the PCB announced that they wanted Afridi to retire. Afridi said it was unfair for them to announce their plans in the media, but then said that he wanted a farewell match, which didn't happen as a result of him cancelling a meeting regarding the issue with the PCB. In February 2017, he announced his retirement from T20Is and international cricket. In April 2018, Afridi briefly returned to international cricket after he was named in the
Rest of the World XI squad for the
Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge. He went on to captain the team, after
Eoin Morgan had to withdraw due to injury. After the match, Afridi stated that he would not be making a comeback to international cricket for Pakistan. == Post-retirement ==