Islamabad: Is Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi the youngest player to score a century in an international singles match, according to the International Cricket Council (ICC)? Afridi’s tweet on the occasion of his birthday has once again made the question of how old Afridi is, who has been around the cricket world for years, a mystery. Afridi turns 44 today According to the ICC, Afridi is still only 41 years old and is still in the record books for scoring an ODI century at the age of 16!
‘Today marks the 44th anniversary. Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Family and fans are always my biggest strength. Now enjoying the days with Multa. “I hope we can put out match-winning performances for Multan Sultan fans,” Afridi tweeted.
Although Afridi has testified that he is 44 years old, he still holds the record for the youngest ODI century in the ICC record books. On October 4, 1996, Afridi scored 102 against Sri Lanka, including Muttiah Muralitharan. The ICC estimates that Afridi was only 16 years and 217 days old at the time.
What happened?
Afridi scored a century against Sri Lanka in Nairobi in the 1996 KCA Centenary Tournament, which also included Zimbabwe. Although Afridi made his ODI debut against hosts Zimbabwe in the first match of the same tournament, he did not get a chance to bat in the first match. He then went on to bat for the first time in the second match. That century also entered the record books with a century.
Afridi hit a century off 37 balls that was unheard of in the 1990s. Against the bowling line-up that also includes Muttiah Muralitharan and Chamind Vaas. Afridi also scored the youngest ODI century, as well as the fastest ODI century.
Afridi has been the fastest ODI batsman to score a century for 18 years. The record was later broken by New Zealand’s Corey Anderson, who hit a century off 36 balls. South Africa’s AB de Villiers then broke the record with a 31 – ball century against the West Indies.
Despite breaking the record for fastest century, Afridi still holds the record for the youngest ODI century. In 2014, at the age of 17 years and 242 days, Usman Ghani of Afghanistan scored a century against Zimbabwe, the second in the record book.
Questions are often raised about Afridi’s actual age. In his autobiography in 2019, Afridi revealed that 1980 was not his birth year but 1975 in the ICC records. However, Afridi is the youngest player to score an ODI century in the record books!
English Summary: Shahid Afridi thanks fans on birthday but creates more confusion on his age with his tweet
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