Shahid Afridi confounds Cricket fans with revelation on his age, big names weigh in

Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi's autobiography titled 'Game Changer' was released on Friday, and in it, he has lashed out explosively at India's former southpaw and winner of two World titles Gautam Gambhir, taking their decade-old on-and-off-field spat to another level. However, while that matter continues to pique Cricket fans' interests, an aspect from the book that has left them perplexed is Afridi's own estimate of his age and the calculations involved.

Shahid Afridi who is fondly addressed as 'Lala' has confessed that he was born in 1975 and not 1980 as stated in official records. Nonetheless, Afridi has not yet mentioned his date of birth. According to what he writes in his autobiography, the former all-rounder was 19 and not 16 when he had made his debut against Kenya back in 1996. He went on to add that the authorities had stated his age incorrectly. As of now, Afridi also holds the record of being the youngest player to score an ODI century at the age of 16 years and 217 days.

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Therefore, after revealing his exact age, it means that he was at least 20 when he had made a then record-breaking 37-ball century against Sri Lanka in 1996 instead of 16 as stated in the official records. 

The veteran of 27 Tests, 398 ODIs and 99 T20Is officially announced his retirement from the game in February 2017. Going by his year of birth which is 1975, Afridi might have been either 34 or 35 when he had announced his retirement from Test Cricket back in 2010. Nonetheless, he made his return to the game's longest format after a four-year hiatus to lead Pakistan. His comeback was short-lived as he only managed to make a solitary Test match appearance. This also means that Afridi might have been 40 or 41 when he played his last game for Pakistan at the ICC World T20 2016 instead of 36. 

The former all-rounder was a part of the victorious Pakistan squad that lifted its first and only ICC World T20 trophy. He also led the 'Men In Green' to the semifinals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. 

Even the Twitterverse was shell-shocked after Afridi had confessed about his real age.

However, there were people who showered praises on the iconic cricketer.

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