players photos biography: Ahmed Shehzad biography

Ahmed Shehzad(born 23 November 1991) is aPakistani cricketer. He plays domestic cricket for Habib Bank Limited. He made his One Day International debut for Pakistan on 24 April 2009 againstAustralia.

International career

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 Twenty20he 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.

The big break vs New Zealand (2010-11)

After spending most of the sidelines on the fringes of national selection Shehzad played in the three-match Twenty20 series against New Zealand scoring 14 runs of just 7 balls in an innings that included 2 fours and 1 six. Shehzad showcase his ability to time the ball and to score runs at a quick pace therefore in the following match he started to feel comfortable on New Zealand wickets scoring a watchful 15 of 14 balls in an innings that included 1 four, this time he showcase his ability to remain calm in a situation where the middle order was collapsing around him. After batting at number 3 for these two matches Shehzad replaced Shahid Afridi as opener and scored his maiden Twenty20 half-century scoring 54 of just 34 balls in an innings that included 10 fours.^[1] After performing well in the three Twenty20's the Pakistan selectors selected Shehzad for the six-match ODI seri^[2] es against New Zealand with a potential place as a World Cup opener also available. After scoring 115 an ODI against New Zealand during the series, Shehzad was given a place in the Pakistan world cup squad.

2011 Cricket World Cup

Shehzad has played all four opening games for the Pakistani team in the World Cup. Not anymore however. After a 5th match of devouring ridiculously sized lullis, Shehzad was cast out of the main squad and replaced with Asad Shafiq, till the end of the cup. Overall Shehzad had a relatively poor world cup with an average of 8.8. He is the youngest player in the World Cup with a age of 19.

Against the West Indies (2011)

Despite having a poor World Cup the Pakistani selectors perservered with Shezhad amongst peristance from Shahid Afridi, this seemed to pay dividends as in the second ODI agaisnt West Indies, Shehzad scored 102 of 148 balls with 7 fours and one six.

Ahmed Shehzad