‘Afghanistan Dhoni’ Mohammad Shahzad wishes MS Dhoni on his birthday

Right-handed batsman and wicketkeeper of Afghanistan, Mohammad Shahzad took to Twitter earlier today to wish Mahendra Singh Dhoni on his birthday. Dubbed as the MS Dhoni of Afghanistan, Shahzad made a name for himself by mastering the helicopter shot and replicating it exactly the way the former Indian skipper does. He is also amongst the country’s leaderboard with the highest batting average of 37.15 and the best strike rate amongst top order batsmen clocking at 90.06.

Shahzad made his debut for the Afghanistan national side in 2009. Soon he became an integral part of the team providing a much-needed impetus with his imperative strokeplay. He is currently Afghanistan’s leading scorer in ODIs with 743 runs from 21 matches. He has played 12 first-class matches against various Associate teams, in which he has compiled 1059 runs at an average of 55.73, with eight half-centuries and two hundred, which includes a double ton.

The ‘Afghanistan Dhoni’ was also shortlisted for the 2010 ICC Associate Player of the Year award. However, he eventually lost out to Ryan ten Doeschate of Netherland.

Speaking about his eagerness to meet the former Indian skipper, Shahzad said, “I saw MS Dhoni first in 2005, but then when I saw him and his team win the ICC World T20 in 2007 I felt very nice. I had a dream of meeting MS Dhoni and that was fulfilled 3 years after that when Afghanistan toured West Indies for World T20.”

Wants to play alongside MSD

“MS Dhoni is an extremely down to earth and humble human being. My wish is to play along his side in IPL once.”

Dhoni, on the other hand, is currently touring the Carribean. The former Men in Blue skipper played a clinical role to help India clinch the 5 match ODI series 3-1. India will next take on the hosts in a lone T20I on July 9, Sunday.

Here’s his actual tweet