Legend · Pakistan

Shahid Afridi

All-RounderRight-hand batRight-arm legbreak

11,196 runs

— Career runs

Pakistan's marquee all-rounder — a daring six-hitter, leg-spin wicket-taker, and World Twenty20 winner whose presence changed the tempo of any match.

— Biography

Shahid's legacy

Shahid Afridi arrived with one of cricket's great entrances: a 37-ball ODI hundred in 1996 that turned a teenager into an international headline overnight. The nickname Boom Boom followed because it described the spectacle exactly — fast hands, daring hitting, and an appetite for changing a match before it settled.

1996–2000
Age 16–20
The sensational arrival
Drafted into Pakistan's ODI side in October 1996 as a teenage leg-spinner, Shahid Afridi was handed the bat at number three against Sri Lanka at Nairobi — and produced one of cricket's most memorable debuts. In his very first international innings he reached his hundred from just 37 balls, the fastest century in ODI history, a record he would hold for more than 17 years. The eleven sixes he struck equalled the record for an ODI innings and announced a daring new talent to the world. Named man of the match, the youngster had turned a stand-in opportunity into a lasting cricket memory.
2001–2005
Age 20–25
Boom Boom: the all-rounder emerges
These years saw Afridi mature from teenage sensation into a genuine match-winning all-rounder, influential with bat and ball. In March 2005 he lit up the series against India, blazing a 26-ball fifty that prompted Ravi Shastri to christen him "Boom Boom," and in the Test arena he struck a rapid half-century while taking five wickets in the match. Weeks later he made a century off just 45 balls against India, then among the fastest ever recorded. A Wisden poll of leading bowlers ranked him among the most impactful batsmen in the one-day game.
2006–2009
Age 26–29
T20 ascendancy and World Cup glory
As Twenty20 cricket arrived, Afridi's daring all-round game found a natural stage. He was a standout figure of the inaugural 2007 World Twenty20, helping Pakistan reach the final, before the crowning moment arrived two years later: at the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 he produced a half-century in the semi-final and then an unbeaten 54 with figures of 1 for 20 in the final, earning Player of the Match honours as Pakistan lifted the trophy. It was a defining triumph for that Pakistan side, with Afridi at its heart.
2009–2011
Age 29–31
Leading Pakistan
World Cup success elevated Afridi to the captaincy, and he came to lead Pakistan across all three formats. He carried the side into the 2011 World Cup with a series of inspired bowling displays, opening the campaign with figures of 5 for 16 against Kenya — the best by a Pakistan bowler in a World Cup — and becoming only the second cricketer to complete 4,000 runs and 300 wickets in ODIs. He finished as the tournament's joint-leading wicket-taker with 21 scalps, driving Pakistan all the way to the semi-finals.
2011–2015
Age 31–35
The six-hitting maestro
In the later chapters of his ODI career Afridi cemented his standing as the most thrilling striker the format had seen, setting the all-time record for the most sixes hit in one-day international cricket. He played with one of the highest career strike rates in the game's history and remained a wicket-taking force with his brisk, well-disguised leg-spin and googly. A marquee attraction wherever he played, he gave crowds a reason to fill stadiums before stepping away from one-day internationals in 2015.
2015–2017
Age 35–37
The final bow
Afridi's last international chapter centred on the shortest format he had helped popularise, leading Pakistan into the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 before announcing his retirement from international cricket in February 2017. He closed a remarkable career having amassed 11,196 international runs and 541 international wickets — a true dual-threat all-rounder whose blend of daring hitting and incisive spin had few parallels. Even at his farewell, fans chanted "Boom Boom Afridi," a testament to the joy he had given the game.
2017–2021
Age 37–41
Foundation work becomes the centre
After international cricket, Afridi's public life increasingly centred on the Shahid Afridi Foundation, which he had established to work across healthcare, education and clean water in Pakistan. The shift mattered because his fame was no longer only a sporting asset; it became a way to mobilise attention for practical needs. The match-winner who once changed a game in a handful of overs was now using the same reach to keep hospitals, schools and water projects in the public conversation.
2022–2024
Age 42–44
Global ambassador and elder statesman
Afridi continued to carry cricket's flag beyond Pakistan, appearing in franchise and exhibition settings while retaining one of the sport's most recognisable public profiles. In 2024 the ICC named him an ambassador for the Men's T20 World Cup, a fitting role for a player whose all-round performances had helped Pakistan win the 2009 edition and whose style helped make T20 feel immediate, emotional and global.
2025–July 2026
Age 45–46
Current to July 2026: legacy measured in service
The current Afridi story is as much humanitarian as sporting. In 2025 his foundation worked with the Green Crescent Trust on an education campaign aimed at bringing more than 10,000 out-of-school children into learning, with girls' education foregrounded. In May 2026, he was reported to have been conferred the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Pakistan's second-highest civilian honour. By July 2026, his public standing rests on a rare combination: World Twenty20 winner, one-day record-breaker, mass entertainer, foundation leader and one of Pakistan cricket's most durable cultural figures.

— In Frame

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— Honours & Records

2009

World Twenty20 Champion

Player of the Match in the final — a half-century and 1 for 20.

1996

A 37-ball century

One of the fastest hundreds the one-day game has ever seen, struck in his breakthrough innings.

Career

Master six-hitter

351 sixes in one-day internationals — among the most in the game's history.

Career

Elite all-round double

8,000+ ODI runs and 395 ODI wickets.

2007

Player of the Tournament

At the inaugural ICC World Twenty20.

2026

Hilal-e-Imtiaz

Pakistan's second-highest civilian honour, for services to sport.

— In Their Words

What the game says about Shahid

“We performed at the right time, and especially watching the way Shahid Afridi performed in those last two games, it was a privilege for me.”
Younis Khan
Pakistan's 2009 World T20-winning captain