Ahmed Shehzad

Ahmed Shehzad (Urdu: احمد شہزاد ‎ born 23 November 1991) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a right-handed opening batsman. He made his One Day International and T20I debut for Pakistan in April 2009 against Australia.Now he is captain of HBL team in Quaid-e-Azam trophy and departmental one day cup.

Shehzad was born on 23 November 1991 in the city of Lahore. He belongs to a Pashtun family and is fluent in Pashto.When Shehzad was two years old, his father died and he was raised by a single mother in Anarkali, Lahore.

On 19 September 2015, Shehzad married his childhood friend Sana Murad in a traditional Islamic ceremony.

Shehzad made his First class debut for Lahore Shalimars at Lahore, 24 January 2007. Since then his is part of Lahore team Lahore Lions. Shehzad has played cricket for different clubs in Pakistan domestic circuit including Habib Bank Limited, Lahore Eagles, Lahore Ravi and Lahore Shalimar. Shehzad has also played for Pakistan Under-19 team.

He was the leading run-scorer in the 2016–17 Departmental One Day Cup, with 653 runs, including a career-best score in List A cricket of 166 in the semi-final.He was also caiptan of team. During the tournament he scored three centuries and three half-centuries in nine matches.

He is a slow batsman from Lahore, as his strike rates indicate, Ahmed Shehzad has somehow established himself as an opening batsman.He often tries to copy India's Virat Kohli in every way possible but has failed to match Kohli's sublime run scoring abilities and consistency. 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.

The right-handed batsman, who took to the game aged just seven, has over the years been a mediocre scorer for Pakistan's Under-19s and Youth sides. Just 16, he made his domestic debut for Habib Bank Limited, he helped Pakistan Under-19 chase down a stiff target of 342 set by England in a Youth Test. Back home, he went to score 315 runs in a 5-0 mauling of Australia Under-19s in a Youth ODI series and a whirlwind 92 of just 49 balls for the Lahore Eagles in domestic game gave further proof of his talent. Following a 2008 Under-19 World Cup campaign, he made it to Pakistan's Test squad for the 2009 home series against Sri Lanka but was not picked in the playing XI.

2009

Shehzad made his debut for Pakistan in a one-day international against Australia on 29 April 2009. In his maiden match he got run-out scoring just 4 runs. In the following 3 matches he scored 40, 43 and 19 respectively. Shehzad made his Twenty20 International debut on the same tour 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 Twenty20 only playing the opening game against England. Whatever happened Pakistan won that World Twenty20 and it is in his achievements.

2010

He was recalled to the side in late 2010 for a tour to New Zealand. He sparkled with good performances in T20Is and ODIs scoring his maiden T20I fifty and maiden ODI ton at Hamilton which sealed his place in the World Cup 2011 squad. Shehzad featured in five games that Pakistan played in the World Cup but couldn't cross even 15 in any of them.

2011 – 2012

The good show in late 2010 earned him a place in the squad for the World Cup 2011, but Shehzad failed to impress. He managed to retain his spot for the West Indies tour that followed, and even made his second ODI century there, but was left out of the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

The Barisal Burners bought Shehzad for $50,000 to play in the 2012 Bangladesh Premier League. With 486 runs from 12 matches, Shehzad was the tournament’s leading run-scorer.

2013

He was dropped from the Pakistan squad in 2011 and made his comeback more than two years later in 2013. The South African tour proved to be a watershed moment in his career. A century in Port Elizabeth helped Pakistan become the first Asian team to win a bi-lateral ODI series in South Africa. Shehzad made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2013 scoring 38 in the first innings and 55 in the second. Ahmed Shahzad was part of the Test squad against South Africa in UAE. However he wasn’t selected in the playing XI in either of the 2 Tests against South Africa.

2014 - 2015

He performed well against Australia and New Zealand scoring hundreds against each of them, but had to miss two Tests against New Zealand after being struck on the head by a Corey Anderson bouncer. He returned in the subsequent ODI series and scored his sixth ODI century in the third game. Shehzad was part of the team selected for the 2015 World Cup. After the World cup Shehzad was dropped from the team once again along with his team mate Umar Akmal from the test and ODI sides due to some attitude issues for the series against Bangladesh but was recalled for the Test and ODI Series against Sri Lanka.

2016–2017

Ahmed Shehzad, who had been left out of the side's training camp on disciplinary grounds at the start of May, was omitted from 22-man preliminary squad for the England tour in July–August as well. Shehzad was left out on disciplinary grounds again, despite being the leading run-getter in the 50-over Pakistan Cup with 372 runs at an average of 74.40, including a century and three fifties.He was recalled for Pakistan tour of West Indies 2017 along with Kamran Akmal.

Shehzad was issued a 1-match ban in 2011 for showing dissent in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. This was after he was issued a fine just the month before on disciplinary grounds.

The PCB issued Shehzad an official reprimand after his frequent quarrels with Sri Lankan batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan about Dilshan's past and current religions. Shehzad was also dropped from team after Cricket World Cup 2015. Team coach Waqar Younis told a press conference that he had some attitude issues.

During a The Pakistan Super League group stage match vs Peshawar Zalmi, Shahzad had an exchange of words and physical contest with fast bowler Wahab Riaz. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) imposed a fine on both players and issued an official warning to them.

After Pakistan's exit from the 2016 World Twenty20 from losing 3 matches against New Zealand, India and Australia, Shehzad's poor performance led to a PCB committee suggesting a ban on him and player Umar Akmal.

• In the column Runs, * indicates being not out
• The column title Match refers to the Match Number of the player's career

Test centuries

Ahmed Shehzad's Test centuries
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	147	3	Sri Lanka	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	2014	Won
2	131	6	Australia	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Dubai Sports City	2014	Won
3	176	8	New Zealand	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	Sheikh Zayed Stadium	2014	Won

One Day International centuries

Ahmed Shehzad's One Day International centuries
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	115	8	New Zealand	Hamilton, New Zealand	Seddon Park	2011	Won
2	102	16	West Indies	Gros Islet, Saint Lucia	Beausejour Stadium	2011	Won
3	102	34	South Africa	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	St George's Oval	2013	Won
4	124	37	Sri Lanka	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Dubai International Cricket Stadium	2013	Lost
5	103	44	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium	2014	Won
6	113	54	New Zealand	Sharjah, United Arab Emirates	Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium	2014	Won

Twenty20 International centuries

Ahmed Shehzad's Twenty20 International centuries
#	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year	Result
1	111*	25	Bangladesh	Dhaka, Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium	2014	Won

• Only Pakistani batsman to have scored centuries in all international formats of the game (i.e. Test, ODI and T20I).
• Most runs, most sixes in a T20 innings by a Pakistani.

|- style="background:white;" | 2 | West Indies | Beausejour Ground, Gros Islet | 25 April 2011 | 102 (148 balls, 7x4, 1x6) |  Pakistan won by 7 wickets. |- style="background:white;" | 3 | South Africa | St George's Park, Port Elizabeth | 27 November 2013 | 102 (112 balls, 8x4, 2x6) |  Pakistan won by 1 run. |- style="background:white;" | 4 | New Zealand | Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah | 14 December 2014 | 113 (120 balls, 12x4, 2x6); 3-0-22-1 |  Pakistan won by 147 runs. |- style="background:white;" | 5 | United Arab Emirates | McLean Park, Napier | 4 March 2015 | 93 (105 balls, 8x4, 1x6); 1 ct. |  Pakistan won by 129 runs. |- style="background:white;" | 6 | Sri Lanka | R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo | 22 July 2015 | 95 (90 balls, 12x4, 1x6); 1 ct. |  Pakistan won by 7 wickets. |}

Twenty20 International Cricket

Player of the Series Awards

#	Series	Season	Match Performance	Result
1	Pakistan vs Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe	2013	Runs: 168 (114 balls: 12×4, 7x6), Ave – 168.00, SR – 147.36	Pakistan won the series 2-0.

Man of the Match Awards

#	Series	Season	Match Performance	Result
1	Pakistan vs Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe	2013	70 (50 balls: 6x4, 1x6)	Pakistan won by 25 runs.
2	Pakistan vs Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe	2013	98* (64 balls: 6x4, 6x6)	Pakistan won by 19 runs.
3	2014 ICC World Twenty20 27th match (PAK vs BAN) in Bangladesh	2014	111* (62 balls: 10x4, 5x6)	Pakistan won by 50 runs.