© Feroz Khan | India.com Sports Desk Shahid Afridi is celebrating his birthday today (© IANS)
Pakistan cricket legend Shahid Afridi is celebrating his 44th birthday today. Afridi made quite an entry at the international stage blasting a stunning 37-ball century in while playing only his second ODI as he built a reputation of a big-hitting batsman and eventually shining as a reliable legspinner.
Between 1996 and 2018, Afridi played 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20Is for Pakistan, scoring over 11,000 runs in them and taking 541 wickets as well. His wickets may given one an impression of being a specialist bowler but it was his madcap approach with the bat that helped his build a memorable career.
After PSL 2021 was postponed, Shahid Afridi took to Twitter and expressed his disagreement at PCB's decision to postpone PSL. According to Afridi, despite the COVID-19 situation in Pakistan, the PSL 2021 could have been completed with just local players, thus belittling the presence of foreign players in the league. The latest tweets from @SAFoundationN. The Undertaker, Shahid Afridi trend on Twitter as news of Dawood Ibrahim dying of coronavirus surfaces. Updated Jun 06, 2020 15:07 IST The news of Dawood Ibrahim dying due to coronavirus became the talk of the town on Friday. His brother, though, rubbished the rumours. Before Shahid Afridi revealed the news on Twitter, a Pakistani journalist said that the proposal has been accepted and added that a formal engagement will be done in a couple of years, following.
The 37-ball ton remained the fastest in ODI history for nearly two decades before being surpassed by Corey Anderson in 2014 (36 ball) and then AB de Villiers (31 balls) in 2015.
While, expectedly, is on-field exploits or lack of thereof consistently made the headlines, the mystery surrounding his real age was a hot topic of debate, something which remains so even today - three years after he played his final international match after multiple retirement U-turns.
Afridi's official date of birth with the International Cricket Council is March 1, 1980. It means, his 37-ball hundred came when he was just 16. However, in his autobiography, he claimed his year of birth being 1975 and not 1980 as per ICC database.
Shahid Afridi Twitter
'I was just nineteen, and not sixteen like they claim. I was born in 1975. So yes, the authorities stated my age incorrectly,' Afridi wrote in the book titled 'Game Changer.'
However, as per the claim in the book, his age today should be 46 but as per his Tweet, he has turned '44 today!'.
'Thank you very much for all the lovely birthday wishes - 44 today! My family and my fans are my biggest assets. Really enjoying my stint with Multan and hope to produce match winning performances for all MS fans,' Afridi posted on Monday.
Naturally, users on Twitter had a field day.
Thank you very much for all the lovely birthday wishes - 44 today! My family and my fans are my biggest assets. Really enjoying my stint with Multan and hope to produce match winning performances for all MS fans.
Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) February 28, 2021
The Man ! The Myth ! The Legend ! .... a 16yr old Afridi scoring the fastest centuryyyyy......... today turns 44, according to his book he is 46 and Wikipedia says 41 , happy birthday lala
Giri Babu Madhavan (@Girisgb) March 1, 2021
Finally we get to witness the moment. The age of Shahid Afridi. Though still not from a valid source. But will take it. https://t.co/Pg9Bug3gnt
Abhisek Panda (@abhishaaakeee) March 1, 2021
44! Now we finally know! Happy birthday Shahid Afridi! 🎉
Rob Moody (@robelinda2) March 1, 2021
🤣 considering the widely known fact that he was 16 when he made his debut in 1996, he has managed the impossible- by growing 28 years older in just 25 years. https://t.co/NVI1ORXMWj
r a v i (@tour_de_farce) February 28, 2021
Shahid Afridi Twitter Hashtag
HBD Lala but you may want to update your age with PSL records they had you at 40 a week ago https://t.co/QlupC46l1I
Omer I Khan 🏏🏀⚽️🇨🇦 🇸🇦 🇵🇰 (@omerkhan8) February 28, 2021
As per his autobiography, the age should be 46. Cricinfo & Cricbuzz has his age as 41and now he says he is 44 years old. The great mysteries of the world. https://t.co/HNLhGbSfMc
Vishesh Roy (@vroy38) March 1, 2021
44 it is then !! #ShahidAfridihttps://t.co/HBIXzBKApG
Karthik Rao (@Cric_Karthikk) March 1, 2021
Lol i thought 16 https://t.co/2ewyuu7Jh5
Muhammad Raza Khan (@YourBro_isHere) February 28, 2021
Afridi Six
It seemed that with Afridi clarifying his age in his autobiography, the controversy has been put to bed for good. However, his latest post on microblogging site Twitter has only added to the myth.