Shahid Afridi stumps cricket world for 25 years, set to lose BIG international record

Former Pakistan cricket captain Shahid Afridi was one of the most explosive batsmen in the world while playing international cricket. The veteran all-rounder has been in the sport since 1996 and was a crucial part of the Pakistan team during his playing days. However, there has always been controversy regarding the Shahid Afridi age. 

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Shahid Afridi birthday tweet reveals his actual age, snatches away world record he held for 25 years

As per records, Shahid Afridi was born on March 1, 1980, and made his debut as a 16-year-old in 1996. However, not many people buy the Afridi age story. Shahid Afridi then went on to reveal his actual age in his autobiography ‘GameChanger’. Shahid Afridi wrote his real birth year as 1975, which is five years earlier than the year in public records. However, the specific date and month of the Afridi age were not mentioned.

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On Monday, March 1 (Shahid Afridi birthday), the cricketer took to Twitter and thanked fans for their wishes. He went to reveal his age saying that he has turned 44. Afridi's latest revelation has stunned the cricketing fraternity since he snatched a world record which was to his name for 25 years.

With Shahid Afridi revealing his birth year as 1977, it is apparent that he was 19 years 217 days old and not 16 years 217 days when he scored the first ODI century in 1996 (100 off 37 balls). This means that Afghanistan's Usman Ghani, at the age of 17 years 242 days, is now the youngest to score an ODI 100. Usman Ghani achieved the feat back in July 2014.

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Shahid Afridi stats in international cricket

The Shahid Afridi stats in international cricket makes for a staggering read. The Pakistan veteran played just 27 Tests wgere he scored 1716 runs with five hundreds, eight fities and 48 wickets to his name. However, his record in ODI cricket is spectacular, to say the least.

Afridi featured in 398 ODIs and 99 T20Is for Pakistan where he has scored 8064 and 1416 runs respectively. He has also bagged 395 ODI and 98 T20I wickets. Notably, throughout his career, he struck 476 international sixes which puts him at the second spot in the list of most sixes in career behind Chris Gayle (534).

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SOURCE: AP