Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi was also one of the greatest all-rounders in international cricket history. Apart from his speedy leg-spin bowling, Afridi was very famous for his aggressive batting performances. However, initially, he was selected as a leg-spinner.
Afridi, who originally started as a fast bowler, initially impressed with his consistent performances as a leg-spinner. Before his international debut, Afridi served for the Pakistan U19 side in the Youth Test cricket, where he mostly came to bat at the lower-order, and mostly impressed with his bowling performances. He was selected in the national team for the first time due to his impressive bowling performances in the age-based tournaments. The Pakistan cricketer was selected in the four-nation Sameer Cup 1996–97 as a leg-spinner, in the replacement of the injured leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed.
Though Afridi didn’t earn an opportunity to bat on his ODI debut (against Kenya at Nairobi, Aga on 2nd October 1996), he came to bat at no.3 during his second ODI (against Sri Lanka at Nairobi, Gym on 4th October 1996). As some crucial players missed out that tournament, Afridi was sent to early in the batting position as a ‘pinch-hitter’. However, the youngster stunned everyone by completing his half-century in just 18 balls and further stretching that knock for the 37-ball century. In that 102-run knock off just 40 balls, Afridi smashed 6 fours and 11 sixes.
Not only his teammates, but Afridi himself was also little surprised with that early achievement. However, he also admitted his enjoyment to bat as he claimed in the post-match interview, “I didn’t come here to slog. My main job is to be a spinner, but obviously I’ve found I can bat as well ! I just wanted to be useful to the team.”
Well, it was only the beginning chapter of his long incredible international career. After playing 524 international matches between 1996 and 2018 (27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20Is), Afridi scored 11196 runs and also took 541 wickets. During his international career, Afridi also led his national team in 83 matches (only Test, 38 ODIs and 44 T20Is).