LookBack: Shahid Afridi's ODI career

LookBack: Shahid Afridi’s ODI career: Shahid Afridi has announced that his retirement from One Day Internationals at the end of the Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand in February and March 2015. However, the all-rounder will continue to represent his country in T20 Internationals. We have decided to have a look a Shahid Afridi’s ODI career, what he have achieved in his career through this article.

One of the most exciting cricketers ever produced in One Day Cricket, Shahid Afridi is that kind of batsman who loves to go after the bowling from the word go. Considered as a batsman, who can bowl a bit, Afridi has been a more successful bowler than a batsman in his ODI career.

Shahid Afridi made his ODI debut on 2nd October 1996 against Kenya in Nairobi, where he did not bat and was unable to get any wicket with the ball, as he bowled an economical 10 overs, conceding just 32 runs. The most exciting thing about Afridi’s career is that it became clear only after 10 years of his debut that he is a leg-spinning all-rounder.

However, there are some records which Shahid Afridi will forever own, even if the records are broken. He smashed the record of the fastest ODI hundred in just his first ODI innings, holding the record for over 15 years. He has two hundreds in the top 5 fastest hundreds. He is the only batsman to hit three 18-ball fifties in ODI cricket. He has scored 8064 runs from the 398 One Day Internationals that he have played at an average of 23.57, but with a strike rate of 117.

Afridi is the most experienced ODI player to have ever played for Pakistan, appearing in 398 ODIs, but also has the unique record of scoring the maximum number of ducks by a Pakistani cricketer (29). He is a far more successful bowler as he took 395 ODI wickets from the 363 innings he have bowled in, at an average of 34.51. He has four 4-wicket hauls and nine 5-wicket hauls to his name with the best bowling figures of 7 for 12 against West Indies at Providence in Guyana.

Facts and Trivia about Shahid Afridi:

• Shahid Afridi is the only cricketer to have retired from cricket 4 times, before coming back to play.
• He is the most experienced cricketer to represent Pakistan, representing the nation in close to 500 matches.
• He is only behind Sanath Jayasuriya, in terms of most ducks in ODI cricket.
• He has two fastest ODI hundreds and three fastest ODI fifties in the top 5 of both the categories.
• He holds the record of hitting most sixes in ODI (342)
• 2^nd Fastest Century (37 balls) vs Sri Lanka
• 4^th Fastest Century (45 balls) vs India
• 10^th Fastest Century (53 balls) vs Bangladesh
• Youngest to score an ODI Century (16 years 217 days) vs Sri Lanka
•  2^nd Fastest 50 (18 balls) – Thrice
• 3^rd Fastest 50 (19 balls)
• 4^th Fastest 50 (20 balls) – Twice
• 5^th Fastest 50 (21 balls)
• 6^th Fastest 50 (22 balls)

• Most SIXES in an innings for Pakistan
• 3^rd Most Man of the Match Awards – 32
• 2^nd Most no. of runs in an over – 32 vs CM Bandara
• Highest Career Strike Rate – 116.29 (minimum 1K ODI runs)
• 6^th Highest Wicket-Taker in ODIs – 391
• Most Wickets in a single World Cup as Captain – 21 in 2011
• 2^nd best bowling figures in ODI History – 7/12 vs West Indies
• One of 4 players with 5000 ODI runs and 250 ODI Wickets – Others: Razzaq, Kallis, Jayasuriya
• One of 2 players with 6000 ODI runs and 300 ODI Wickets – Other: Jayasuriya
• Only player with 7000 ODI runs and 350 ODI Wickets
• Only player to score a 50 and then take a 5-fer in the same game THREE times

*All stats updated till 2nd October 2016.