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Cricket legend Shahid Afridi aka Lala turns 42
Shahid Afridi holds the record of the longest six in Cricket history
Lahore: Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is celebrating his birthday on Tuesday, March 1. Former Captain of the national team has turned 42 years old.
The cricket legend turned to twitter and wrote, “Thank you to each of you for the messages, tweets, calls, posts, and most importantly your Duas (prayers)”.
“Makes me feel special and makes my day a memorable one with all the love every year,” he added.
Wishes pour in for 'Boom Boom'
Over the years, even during his heydays, Shahid Afridi's age has been a hot topic of discussion in the cricket fraternity.
According to the International Cricket Council (ICC), Afridi was born on March 1, 1980, which means he is 42 now.
Lala debuted in a One Day Internationals (ODI) tri-series tournament in Nairobi, Kenya and, most famously, hit a 37-ball hundred the first time he batted in international cricket.
Afridi is widely considered as one of the most popular and destructive cricketers. He has been known for his blasting cricket and later he was named “Boom Boom”.
That record stood for over 17 years before being broken by Corey Anderson and was even more outrageous for the fact that it had been achieved by a 16-year-old.
He also holds the record for having hit the most sixes in the history of ODI cricket.
Bowling-wise Afridi, he has taken 395 wickets in ODI and 48 Test wickets. In addition he has also taken 98 T20I wickets.
Afridi’s age has been a hot topic in the cricket circles since his debut.
In 2019, Afridi in his autobiography titled ‘Game Changer’ wrote that he was born in 1975 and not 1980.
This means that the 37-ball century—which he hit against Sri Lanka as a 16-year-old — actually came when he was 20-years-old.
However, Afridi is one of the most celebrated cricketers in his heyday and took retirement from international cricket in 2017.