Shahzad was not part of Afghanistan's squad when they began to rise through international cricket tournaments in 2008, joining for the
2009 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in
South Africa. His strong performances in the tournament helped Afghanistan obtain
One Day International status and he has been a regular part of their national team in all three formats of the game since then.
First-class cricket 2009–2010 Shahzad first played
first-class cricket for Afghanistan in the
2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup, the highest level of international cricket below Test cricket. In August 2009, Shahzad made his first-class debut against a
Zimbabwe XI at
Mutare Sports Club, scoring 79 in his first ever first-class innings. He played a key role in Afghanistan's win over
Ireland, with scores of 88 and 42
not out, and in February 2010, he became the first Afghan to score a first-class double century when he scored 214 not out in Afghanistan's successful chase of 494 runs to beat
Canada. His other century for the tournament came in August 2010 against
Scotland. He scored 54 in the first innings as Afghanistan put on 435 runs, then scored rapidly in the second innings as Afghanistan asserted their dominance on the game. Afghanistan did not declare until Shahzad reached his century, and he did so by hitting
Moneeb Iqbal for
six runs. Shahzad scored a half-century in the Intercontinental Cup final against Scotland to give Afghanistan the title in their first year of participation. He finished the tournament as the top run-scorer for both Afghanistan and the whole competition, with 802 runs at an average of 80.20, including two centuries and five half-centuries. He was also the leading wicket-keeper, with 28 dismissals behind the wickets, including 25 catches and 3 stumpings. As a result, he was one of four players from Afghanistan named in the team of the tournament.
2011–2017 Shahzad scored a half-century in Afghanistan's opening match of the
2011–13 ICC Intercontinental Cup against
Canada, but otherwise failed to have a major impact on the tournament. He never again scored above 50 and finished with an average of just 23.81, though at the end of the tournament, he was named the team's new vice-captain. In January 2012, Shahzad played in a side made up of some of the leading players from Associate and Affiliate teams called the ICC Combined Associate and Affiliate XI, which was put together to face
England in Dubai. The three-day match was part of England's preparation for a series against Pakistan later that month. Along with
Mohammad Nabi and
Hameed Hasan, Shahzad was one of three Afghanistan players included in the 12-man squad. During the match, he scored two half-centuries, and he was named the player of the match despite his team losing. Shahzad bounced back in the
2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup and scored his third and fourth first-class centuries against
Papua New Guinea and
Namibia respectively. The century against Papua New Guinea saw Afghanistan overcome a 151-run first innings deficit to win by 201 runs, and the century against Namibia, for which Shahzad was named the player of the match, helped Afghanistan to an innings victory. This was Afghanistan's final involvement in the Intercontinental Cup, as in 2017, they were granted full member status by the
International Cricket Council and were automatically given
Test status.
Test cricket In May 2018, Shahzad was named in Afghanistan's squad for their inaugural
Test match played
against India. He made his Test debut for Afghanistan, against India, on 14 June 2018. Muhammad Shahzad opened the batting for Afghanistan and scored 14 and 13 runs in the two innings, respectively. Afghanistan lost the one-sided Test within two days. In February 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's Test squad for their one-off match
against Ireland in India.
One-day cricket Shahzad played in the
2009 ICC World Cup Qualifiers, where
Afghanistan gained
ODI status after a win over
Namibia in which Shahzad scored a decisive 73 runs. Shahzad made his ODI debut during Afghanistan's
tour to the Netherlands on 30 August 2009 at
VRA Cricket Ground. In the second match of the series, he made Afghan cricketing history by becoming the first Afghan to score a century in a
One Day International match, scoring 110 runs as Afghanistan won the match by 6 wickets. Shahzad was a member of Afghanistan's
2010 ACC Trophy Elite winning squad, which defeated
Nepal in the final by 95 runs. In July 2010, Shahzad was part of Afghanistan's team in the
2010 ICC World Cricket League Division One tournament, and he scored two half-centuries (both against the Netherlands) to help Afghanistan finish 3rd in the tournament, and another century in the first ODI of the series. In August 2013, in a series against Namibia, Shahzad scored a century and a half-century in two wins.
T20I cricket In February 2010, Shahzad made his
Twenty20 International debut against
Ireland as part of a tri-series in the lead-up to the
2010 World Twenty20 Qualifier. Shahzad was then a key member of Afghanistan's squad for the World Twenty20 Qualifier, as he scored 65 in Afghanistan's successful run chase in the tournament final against Ireland. In the
2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, Shahzad scored three half-centuries, including one in the tournament final against Ireland. Afghanistan lost the match but qualified for the
2012 ICC World Twenty20 regardless. During the World Twenty20, he played in both of Afghanistan's matches against
India and
South Africa. In a two-match Twenty20 series against
Scotland in March 2013, Shahzad made scores of 55 and 46 and was named the player of the match in both games. Shahzad then played in both the
2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier and the
2014 ICC World Twenty20. He went into the World Twenty20 in poor form, making consecutive scores of 7, 22, 0, 22 and 0, but he broke this form slump in Afghanistan's match against
Hong Kong, when he scored 68 runs from 53 balls in a seven-wicket win. Shahzad played two explosive innings in the
2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, making scores of 74 against the
United Arab Emirates and 75 against Scotland. His innings against Scotland was part of Afghanistan's highest ever score to that point (210) and his partnership with
Asghar Afghan reached 110 runs in 63 balls, the biggest partnership for Afghanistan in Twenty20 cricket. He reached his half-century from 26 balls and finished with 75 off of 36 balls. However, on 6 June 2019, he was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury, and was replaced by
Ikram Ali Khil. Later in an interview, Shahzad said that he had no health problem but despite, that he was removed from the World Cup matches by the Afghan cricket board. He also said that it does not seem that he will return to the team. In September 2021, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the
2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. On 31 October 2021, in Afghanistan's T20 World Cup match against
Namibia, Shahzad became the first player for Afghanistan to
score 2,000 runs in T20I cricket. ==Twenty20 franchise cricket==