Ahmed Shehzad

Ahmed Shahzad

Personal information
Full name	Ahmed Shahzad
Born	(1991-11-23) 23 November 1991 Lahore, Pakistan
Nickname	Shehzada (Prince) , Selfie King
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Batting	Right-hand bat
Bowling	Legbreak
Role	Opening Batsman
International information
National side	Pakistan
Test debut (cap 216)	31 December 2013 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	9 November −13 November 2014 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 172)	24 April 2009 v Australia
Last ODI	19 December 2014 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.	19
T20I debut (cap 26)	7 May 2009 v Australia
Last T20I	22 May 2015 v Zimbabwe
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2007	Habib Bank Limited
2012	Barisal Burners
2012	Nagenahira Nagas
2013	Khulna Royal Bengal
2008–present	Lahore Lions
2013	Pakistan A cricket team
2013–present	Jamaica Tallawahs
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 8 65 31 58 Runs scored 718 2,212 799 4,125 Batting average 47.86 34.56 27.55 42.09 100s/50s 3/2 6/12 1/4 10/21 Top score 176 124 111* 254 Balls bowled – 115 – 1,073 Wickets – 2 – 14 Bowling average – 70.00 – 52.85 5 wickets in innings – – – 0 10 wickets in match – – – 0 Best bowling – 1/22 – 4/7 Catches/stumpings 3/– 20/– 9/– 56/–
Source: ESPN Cricinfo, 5 January 2014

Ahmed Shahzad (Template:Lang-ur born 23 November 1991) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batsman and also a part-time legbreak bowler. He used to play domestic cricket for Habib Bank Limited. He made his One Day International debut for Pakistan on 24 April 2009 against Australia and also debut T20I on 7 May 2009 against same team.

Background and personal life

The emerging star of Pakistani cricket team “Ahmed Shehzad” was born on 23 November 1991 in the city of Lahore. When he was only eight months old, his father died.

Domestic career

In limited-overs domestic cricket Ahmed Shehzad plays for Lahore Lions and in June 2011 during the Faysal Bank T-20 Super Eights Shehzad top scored the innings by scoring 74 of 47 balls imposing a mammoth total of 218 against the opposition Sialkot Stallions who in turn were bowled out for 173 Shehzad took two-catches and a wicket as well he was rewarded man-of the match for his superb performances.

International career

A naturally-aggressive batsman hailing from Lahore, Ahmed Shehzad has established himself as an opening batsman. He made his first class debut in 2007. The innings which led to a call-up for the national team was a 167 he scored in Pakistan Youth’s victory against England, where he was instrumental as Pakistan chased down 342.

The right-handed batsman, who took to the game aged just seven, has over the years been a prolific scorer for Pakistan's Under-19s and Youth sides. Just 16, he made his domestic debut for Habib Bank Limited and the first signs of his enormous talent were evident when with a fine 167, he helped Pakistan Under-19 chase down a stiff target of 342 set by England in a Youth Test. Back home, he went to score 315 runs in a 5-0 mauling of Australia Under-19s in a Youth ODI series and a whirlwind 92 of just 49 balls for the Lahore Eagles in domestic game gave further proof of his talent. Following a successful 2008 Under-19 World Cup campaign, he made it to Pakistan's Test squad for the 2009 home series against Sri Lanka.

2009

Shehzad made his debut for Pakistan in a one-day international against Australia on 29 April 2009. In his maiden match he scored one boundary before he was run-out. The following match he scored 40 in an innings that included 4 fours. The third match he scored 43 but this time just scored 2 fours and in the final match of the series he scored 19 with 1 boundary to his name before he was given out leg-before. These consistent performances meant that Shehzad made his Twenty20 debut against Australia scoring a single boundary before being caught in the deep. Despite a failure in the Twenty20 Shehzad was selected for the Pakistan squad in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 he only played one-game which was the opening game against England being caught by Paul Collingwood Pakistan changed their combination removing Shehzad and his partner Salman Butt and replaced them with Shahzaib Hasan and Kamran Akmal.

2010

However he was recalled to the side in late 2010 for a tour to New Zealand. He sparkled with good performances in T20Is and ODIs too. He scored his maiden T20I fifty at Christchurch and then went on to score his maiden ODI ton at Hamilton which sealed his place in the World Cup 2011 squad. Shehzad featured in five games that Pakistan played in the World Cup but couldn't cross even 15 in any of them.

2011 – 2012

The good show earned him a place in the squad for the World Cup 2011, but Shehzad failed to impress. He managed to retain his spot for the West Indies tour that followed, and even made his second ODI century there, but was left out of the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

The Barisal Burners bought Shehzad for $50,000 to pay in the 2012 Bangladesh Premier League. With 486 runs from 12 matches, Shehzad was the tournament’s leading run-scorer.

2013

He was dropped from the Pakistan squad in 2011 and made his comeback more than two years later in 2013. A fruitful period soon followed as he grew in confidence and stature and a pile of handy scores stood out to prove his matured second-coming. The South African tour proved to be a watershed moment in his career. A brilliant century in Port Elizabeth helped Pakistan become the first Asian team to win a bi-lateral ODI series in South Africa. A decent ODI series against the Proteas in the UAE and South Africa and then against Sri Lanka in the UAE paved the way for for a much awaited Test debut against Sri Lanka.This was based on good showing in the limited overs leg of the tour. He debuted in the first Test, and was presented his first Test cap by Younis Khan. He scored 38 in the first innings and 55 in the second. The match was drawn. He didn't disappoint as he hit a confident fifty in the second innings in Abu Dhabi and sent out a message that he can adapt quickly to any format of the game. Ahmed Shahzad was shortlisted for the Pakistan A match against South Africa in the UAE in October 2013. He scored a fifty in the game was selected for one of the 3 remaining slots in the Test squad alongside Shan Masood and Asad Shafiq. He was, however, not selected in the playing XI in either of the 2 Tests against South Africa. In his 3rd test match Shahzad scored a maiden century against Sri Lanka. He scored 147 run from 275 balls and batted for 339 minutes, hit 12 fours and a six.

2014 - 2015

He scored hundreds against Australia and New Zealand, but had to miss two Tests against New Zealand after being struck on the head by a Corey Anderson bouncer. He returned in the subsequent ODI series and smashed his sixth ODI century in the third game. Shehzad is an integral part of the team that was picked for the 2015 World Cup.

International centuries

• In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
• The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

Test centuries

Ahmed Shehzad's Test centuries
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	147	3	Sri Lanka	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	2014	Won
2	131	6	Australia	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Dubai Sports City	2014	Won
3	176	8	New Zealand	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Sheikh Zayed Stadium	2014	Won

One Day International centuries

Ahmed Shehzad's One Day International centuries
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	115	8	New Zealand	Hamilton, New Zealand	Seddon Park	2011	Won
2	102	16	West Indies	Gros Islet, Saint Lucia	Beausejour Stadium	2011	Won
3	102	34	South Africa	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	St George's Oval	2013	Won
4	124	37	Sri Lanka	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Dubai International Cricket Stadium	2013	Lost
5	103	44	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium	2014	Won
6	113	54	New Zealand	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	2014	Won

Twenty20 International centuries

Ahmed Shehzad's Twenty20 International centuries
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	111*	25	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium	2014	Won

Records and achievements

• Ahmed Shehzad becomes first Pakistani to score T20 hundred.
• He is the only Pakistani batsman to have scored centuries in all international formats of the game i.e. Test, ODI and T20I.
• Most runs, most sixes in T20 innings by a Pakistani
• Ahmed Shahzad is the first Pakistani opener to hit four Sixes in a Test Innings.

Controversies

Shehzad doesn’t back away from speaking his mind! After smashing a ton against Bangladesh in the World T20, he dedicated the century to all his critics, who had “said things about him.” As luck would have it, he was dismissed first ball in the next game.

External links

• Ahmed Shehzad on Twitter
• Cricinfo Profile
• Ahmed Shehzad's profile page on Wisden