Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi (Urdu: شاہد افریدی, Pashto: شاهد افریدی; born 1 March 1980) is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. An all-rounder, Afridi was a right-handed leg spinner and a right-handed batsman.
Afridi made his ODI debut in 1996 against Kenya. In his second ODI match against Sri Lanka, he played his first international innings and broke the record for fastest century in ODI cricket (doing so in 37 deliveries). He made his Test debut against Australia in 1998. Afridi made his T20I debut against England in 2006. Afridi was named player of the tournament of the 2007 T20 World Cup. Afridi was player of the match in the final of the 2009 T20 World Cup scoring an unbeaten 54 and getting figures of 1/20 off of 4 overs as Pakistan went on to win the final. Shortly after Pakistan's win at the 2009 World Cup, Pakistan's captain, Younis Khan, announced his retirement from T20Is and Afridi was appointed as his successor. In 2010, Afridi was appointed Pakistan's ODI captain after the sacking of Mohammad Yousuf. Afridi was also appointed Pakistan's Test captain but retired from the format after one match as captain. He led the Pakistan team in the 2011 Cricket World Cup where they reached the semi-finals before losing to rival India. In 2011, Afridi was removed as ODI captain. In 2015, Afridi retired from ODI cricket. After Pakistan's group stage elimination from the 2016 T20 World Cup, Afridi stepped down from captaincy. He was not selected afterwards and on 19 February 2017, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket. He made a brief return to international cricket after being selected to represent and captain the World XI against the West Indies in the 2018 Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge charity match. Following the conclusion of the match, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket again on 31 May 2018. He served as the interim chief selector of the Pakistan cricket team for Pakistan's series against New Zealand.
Afridi runs his own charity, the Shahid Afridi Foundation which aims to provide education and healthcare facilities. He also teamed up with UNICEF to promote the anti-polio campaign in the country. During the 2019 Coronavirus pandemic, he was involved in helping people across Balochistan during the lockdown in the country. This led to him contracting COVID-19 on 13 June 2020. Afridi was also nominated among the top 20 most charitable athletes of 2015.
Afridi was born in Tirah, Khyber Agency, Federally Administered Tribal Area (now Khyber District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Pakistan to an Afridi tribe of Pashtuns. In 2019, Afridi sparked controversy after his autobiography Game Changer stated that he was born in 1975 rather than the officially recorded 1980; however, a source close to Afridi later said the 1975 date was a publishing error and that Afridi was actually born in 1977.
He belongs to a family of Sufi pirs (teachers or spiritual masters) and his grandfather Maulana Muhammad Ilyas was a well-known spiritual figure in Bhutan Sharif, a locality in the Tirah Valley. His other grandfather, Sahibzada Abdul Baqi, was given the title Ghazi-e-Kashmir (conqueror of Kashmir) for his efforts during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948. In 2003, one of Shahid's first cousins, identified as Shaquib, was killed in an encounter with the Indian BSF on 7 September 2003, in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir. The BSF had described Shaquib as a battalion commander of the Islamist militant group Harkat-ul-Ansar.
Afridi has six brothers, including fellow cricketers Tariq Afridi and Ashfaq Afridi, and five sisters. He is the fifth oldest of his siblings. He credits his uncle, a colonel in the Pakistan Army, for introducing him to sports in general and to cricket in particular. Afridi has said that he was inspired by the stories about Imran Khan's captaincy throughout the 1992 Cricket World Cup and that the 1992 World Cup defined his cricket and taught him to never be afraid of failure.
He is married to his maternal cousin Nadia Afridi and has five daughters.
In 2021, Afridi announced his daughter Ansha's engagement to cricketer Shaheen Afridi. On 3 February 2023, his daughter, Ansha, married Shaheen Afridi in a nikah ceremony.
Afridi was drafted to the Pakistan senior national team after fine performances at the under-19 championship circuit starting the 1994–95 season. Playing for the Karachi Whites, he helped his team win the title the following season picking 42 wickets in five matches at an average of 9.59. Later that season, Afridi had played against the visiting England A and West Indies Youth teams and a few first-class games for Karachi Whites in the senior National Championship. In 2001, Afridi signed a contract to represent Leicestershire. In five first-class matches he scored 295 runs at an average of 42.14, including a highest score of 164, and took 11 wickets at an average of 46.45; Afridi also played 11 one day matches for the club, scoring 481 runs at an average of 40.08 and taking 18 wickets at 24.04. His highest score of 95 came from 58 balls in a semi-final of the C&G Trophy to help Leicestershire beat Lancashire by seven wickets. Derbyshire County Cricket Club signed Afridi to play for them in the first two months of the 2003 English cricket season.
Afridi was signed by Deccan Chargers, and played in the inaugural season of the IPL. He could only score 81 runs in 10 matches and picked up 9 wickets in the tournament. He did not play in the 2nd edition of IPL due to the tense atmosphere after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
In the 2016 PSL, Afridi was a part of the franchise Peshawar Zalmi as captain and as their icon player. After the end of the 1st season, Afridi was made the president of Peshawar Zalmi. Afridi stepped down as Peshawar Zalmi captain before the start of the 2017 PSL and gave the captaincy to Daren Sammy. Peshawar went on to win the title. After the end of the second season, Afridi left Peshawar Zalmi. Afridi joined Karachi Kings for the 2018 PSL and was also made the President of Karachi Kings. He also transferred to Karachi as a player ahead of PSL drafts. Afridi left Karachi after they didn't retain him for the 2019 PSL. In the 2019 PSL draft, Afridi was picked by the Multan Sultans in the platinum category.
During the 2020 PSL draft, Multan Sultans retained Afridi as a mentor. He was retained by Multan Sultans again prior to the 2021 PSL. Afridi played the initial part of the 2021 PSL but missed the remainder of the rescheduled tournament due to a back injury. For the 2022 PSL, Afridi played for Quetta Gladiators in what he announced would be his last PSL season. He later withdrew mid-season due to back problems.
In June 2004, Afridi signed with English county team Kent to play for them in three Twenty20 matches and one Totesport League match. Afridi played for Southern Redbacks in the 2009–10 KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. He was part of Ruhuna Royals in 2012 Sri Lanka Premier League but he returned to Pakistan midway through the tournament to attend his ailing wife.
In January 2015, Afridi was signed by Northamptonshire Steelbacks for the 2015 T20 Blast where he reached to the final. In 2016, his services were acquired by Rangpur Riders for the fourth edition of Bangladesh Premier League.
Shahid Afridi was part of the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the third season of the Caribbean Premier League. He was included in the squad of Jamaica Tallawahs for the sixth edition of Caribbean Premier League but pulled out before the start of the tournament due to knee injury.
In 2018, Afridi was chosen as an icon player and captain by the Paktia Panthers in the first season of Afghanistan Premier League. In June 2019, he was selected to play for the Brampton Wolves franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament. In July 2019, he was selected to play for the Belfast Titans in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament. However, the following month the tournament was cancelled. For the sixth edition of Bangladesh Premier League, he was included in the A+ category and was signed by Comilla Victorians. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Dhaka Platoon in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League. In October 2020, he was drafted by the Galle Gladiators for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.