Former Pakistan cricketer Shahid Afridi celebrated his birthday on March 1 and thanked fans for their wishes. The swashbucling all-rounder took to Twitter to extend his gratitude towards his supporters and said that family and fans are his biggest assets.
“Thank you very much for all the lovely birthday wishes – 44 today! My family and my fans are my biggest assets,” Afridi wrote in his tweet.
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
However, Afridi’s tweet created a buzz on social media as he revealed his real age in the first part of the tweet. As per official records, Afridi is still 41 years old, something that was brought to light by Pakistan journalist Danyal Rasool.
Happy birthday to Shahid Afridi. We have his age @ESPNcricinfo as 41, his autobiography says 46, and now we have 44! https://t.co/azhagfWkSX
— Danyal Rasool (@Danny61000) February 28, 2021
Since the revelation, Afridi’s record of 37-ball century against Sri Lanka in 1996, which he scored at the age of 16 has come under the scanner. Afridi held the record for being the youngest cricketer to slam a ton in the 50-over format, but after his latest tweet, it’s evident that the former Pakistan all-rounder had actually scored the ton at the age of 20.
Afridi himself had blamed the authorities earlier for recording his age wrong. In his autobiography, ‘Game Changer’, Afridi has mentioned that he was nineteen when he scored the record-breaking century against Sri Lanka.
“Also, for the record, 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 his autobiography.
If that is the case then Afghanistan’s Usman Ghani is now the youngest cricketer to slam a ton in ODIs. The right-handed batsman scored his first and only century till date in 2014, when he was 17 years and 242 days old.
