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Born: 1/3/80
Team: Habib Bank
ODI debut: 2/10/96
Past World Cups: 1999
Right-handed batsman
Right-arm leg break googly bowler
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A flamboyant all-rounder, Afridi is one of many talented Pakistani players who have yet to live up to their country's high expectations.
This was not helped by the young right-hander's explosive debut against Sri Lanka in the 1996/97 season.
Brought into international cricket as a 16-year-old leg-spinner, he surprised everyone but himself by pinch-hitting the fastest one-day hundred in his maiden innings.
His two centuries as an opening and late middle-order batsman in one-day cricket since then have disappointed some.
However, Afridi is still a compulsive shot-maker and, as a bowler, his leg-spinners, characterised by a hasty approach to the bowling crease, are often under-rated.
No doubt, the man with reputedly the firmest handshake in international cricket is relishing the chance of proving his critics wrong.
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