Shahid Afridi discloses his real age in autobiography 'Game Changer'

Apart from his big-hitting ability, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has also been in the news for another reason: his age. As per records, the former international cricketer was born on March 1, 1980, and made his debut as a 16-year-old in 1996. However, not many people were convinced with the cricketer’s age. However, Afridi recently revealed his name in his autobiography ‘Game Changer’.

Afridi revealed his real birth year as 1975, which is five years earlier than the year in public space. However, the specific date and month were not told about. Afridi had slammed a 37-ball 100 against Sri Lanka in 1996 but while it was said then that he did it as a teenager, he was around 20-21 as per the birth date revealed in his autobiography. Afridi though wrote that he had smashed the century at the age of 19, which has confused a lot of people.

Confusion over Afridi’s age when he slammed 37-ball 100

“Also, for the record, I was just nineteen, and not sixteen like they claim. I was born in 1975. So, yes, the authorities stated my age incorrectly,” the player, who still plays in franchise cricket, wrote. Afridi’s record had stayed as the fastest hundred in ODI for nearly two decades before New Zealand’s Corey Anderson bettered it by a ball (36) in 2014 against the Windies.

If Afridi was born in 1975, it would also mean that he would have been around 34-35 when he suddenly called it quits from Test cricket in 2010, after having returned after a four-year hiatus from the longer format as the captain and playing just one game. His newly revealed birth year also means he had played his final game for Pakistan at the 2016 T20 World Cup at the age of 40-41.

Afridi, who has played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20Is for Pakistan and also took part in the Indian Premier League, scored over 11,000 runs and took more than 500 wickets. He had also led Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and took his team to the semi-final where they lost to arch-rivals India.

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