Birth date: 1991-11-23

Hometown: Lahore, Punjab

Teams: Pakistan, Barisal Burners, Habib Bank Limited, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Ravi, Lahore Shalimar, Pakistan Under-19s

Debut: ODI: Apr 24, 2009 | T20I: May 7, 2009

 

 

A naturally-aggressive batsman hailing from Lahore, Shehzad has established himself as an opening batsman. He made his first class debut in 2007. The innings which led to a call-up for the national team was a 167 he scored in Pakistan Youth's victory against England, where he was instrumental as Pakistan chased down 342.

 

Shehzad continued his good form, where he scored 315 runs in the series, including a highest score of 105 as Pakistan whitewashed Australia Under-19's. He developed consistency in his batting and continued to score freely, making another century against Bangladesh and his form was carried into the triangular tournament in Sri Lanka which Pakistan won and his performances earned Shehzad a call-up for the national team against Australia series in UAE.

 

However, he was unable to translate his performances at youth level to the senior side. Selectors gave him another chance and selected him for 2009 World Twenty20 in England. Despite Pakistan's victory in the tournament, Shehzad was unable to make his mark in the T20s, a format which many felt would suit his attacking instincts and he was subsequently dropped. He returned to domestic cricket and worked hard with domestic coaches, continuing to impress in first class cricket. He was given another opportunity by selectors in the ODI series against New Zealand's ODI where he scored his maiden century, earning a spot in 2011 World Cup squad.

Ahmed Shehzad had a dismal 2011 World Cup, after he was dropped yet again from the team. He has since continued to perform well in the domestic scene, but despite that he has been in and out of the national team. 

 

Although Shehzad didn't set the world on fire with his initial international performances, he seems to have built a bit of a reputation at the top of the order with a century away from home against South Africa as well as an excelent series against Sri Lanka in 2013.

While being seen as a young aggressive batsman, Shehzad has seen more success in Test cricket than ODIs, especially on the flat tracks of the UAE where he scored centuries against Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand in 2014.

However doubts remain over his ODI career and he had a dismal 2015 World Cup where he totally failed to impose himself despite a 93 against the UAE. To add insult to injury Shehzad was also alleged to have had a poor attitude during the tournament according to the coach's official tour report. He was subsequently dropped from the ODI and Test squads for the tour to Bangladesh and had a poor T20 match. Shehzad showed some form in the home T20I series against Zimbabwe but failed to get a recall for the ODI series.

Ahmed Shehzad was recalled to the test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in the summer of 2015 and in the second innings of the first Test scored an unbeated 43 to lead Pakistan to victory.

Ahmed Shehzad is in a crucial stage of his career and it remains to be seen whether he will be able to fulfill the promise he showed in his early years

 

[Last updated: 21st June 2015]