Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi is a Pakistani former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team. An all-rounder, Afridi was a right-handed leg spinner and a right-handed batsman.
The Pakistan national cricket team, has represented Pakistan in international cricket since 1952. It is controlled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the governing body for cricket in Pakistan, which is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Pakistan compete in cricket tours and tournaments sanctioned by the PCB and other regional or international cricket bodies in Test, One Day International (ODI), and Twenty20 International (T20) formats. Pakistan are current ICC Champions Trophy holders.
The United Arab Emirates men's national cricket team is the team that represents the United Arab Emirates in international cricket. They are governed by the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) which became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1989 and an Associate Member the following year. Since 2005, the ICC's headquarters have been located in Dubai.
The Afghanistan men's national cricket team represents Afghanistan in international cricket. Cricket has been played in Afghanistan since the mid-19th century, but it was only in the early 21st century that the national team began to enjoy success. The Afghanistan Cricket Board was formed in 1995 and became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001 and a member of the cricket confederation, Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in 2003. After nearly a decade of playing international cricket, on 22 June 2017 full ICC Membership was granted to Afghanistan. Alongside Ireland, this took the number of Test cricket playing nations to twelve. Afghanistan is the first country to achieve Full Member status after holding Affiliate Membership of the ICC. Following this, the team moved to a new home ground in Dehradun, northern India. The current home ground of the Afghanistan Men's Cricket team is the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE.
The Oman men's national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Oman and is governed by Oman Cricket, which became an Affiliate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2000, and gained Associate status in 2014. The national side has played matches at Twenty20 International level. On 24 April 2019, Oman achieved One-Day International status for the first time until 2023, after they beat tournament hosts Namibia by four wickets in 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two.
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium is in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. It holds the record for being the venue that hosted the highest number of ODIs, 240 matches, up to December 2019. It was originally constructed in the early 1980s and has been much improved over the years. The stadium hosted its first international matches in April 1984, in the Asia Cup.
The Bahrain national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Bahrain in international cricket. The team is organised by the Bahrain Cricket Association (BCA), which became an ICC affiliate member in 2001 and an associate member in 2017.
The Qatar national cricket team is the team that represents Qatar in international cricket. The team is organised by the Qatar Cricket Association, which became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1999 and an associate member in 2017.
The history of cricket in Pakistan predates the creation of the country in 1947. The first international cricket match in what is now Pakistan today was held in Karachi on 22 November 1935 between Sindh and Australia. The match was seen by 5,000 Karachiites. Cricket was introduced by the British during their colonial rule of British India, which covered the area now known as Pakistan. Cricket is the most popular sport in the country. The Pakistan Cricket Board controls all domestic cricket in Pakistan and the national teams. Pakistan is an official member of the International Cricket Council and the Asian Cricket Council. Regarded as one of the best and most passionate cricketing nations, Pakistan has won the Cricket World Cup in 1992, ICC T20 World Cup in 2009, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2004 and 2006, the ACC Asia Cup in 2000 and 2012, and the ICC Test Championship in 2016. Pakistan were runner ups in the 1999 Cricket World Cup and 2007 and 2022 T20 World Cups. Pakistan have also been runner ups in several Asia Cup editions.
Rwanda Cricket Association is the official governing body of cricket sports in Rwanda. Its current headquarters is located in kicukiro district in Kigali city.
The Dubai International Stadium, formerly known as the Dubai Sports City Cricket Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is mainly used for cricket and is one of the three main cricket stadiums in the country, the other two being Sharjah Cricket Stadium and Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. It has seating capacity for 25,000 spectators, but is expandable to accommodate 30,000 spectators. It is a part of the Dubai Sports City in Dubai. The architect of this project was the Canadian architect, Awsam Matloob. The stadium was one of the dedicated venues for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, it hosted Semi Final 2 and the Final on November 11, 2021 and November 14, 2021 respectively.
Pakistanis in Qatar are citizens of Pakistan and holders of Pakistani passports.
Ruhuna Royals was a franchise cricket team that took part in Sri Lanka Premier League, representing Southern Province. Pearl Overseas Limited purchased the team for $4.6 million in 2012. They were owned for seven years, after which a new agreement may be negotiated. The team's current captain is Shahid Afridi.
West End Park International Cricket Stadium or Al-Arabi Stadium or Asian Town Cricket Stadium is a cricket ground in Doha, Qatar. In June 2013, the ground was opened for cricket with the opening of the Grand Mall Hypermarket on its premise. The stadium can seat 13,000 spectators.
The Oman women's national cricket team represents the country of Oman in international women's cricket. The team is organised by Oman Cricket, which has been a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2000.
The Qatar women's national cricket team represents the country of Qatar in international women's cricket. The team is organised by the Qatar Cricket Association, which has been a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1999.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is a Pakistani international cricketer who is the current captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in the T20I format. He captains the Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. Under his leadership, Lahore Qalandars won their first PSL title in the 2022 season and again went on to win the 2023 season, becoming the first team in PSL history to successfully defend their title. He is the first Pakistani to win the Garfield Sobers trophy.
T10 cricket or Ten10 cricket is a short form of cricket. Two teams play a single innings, which is restricted to a maximum of ten overs per side, with the game lasting approximately 90 minutes. The first competition using this format took place in December 2017, the opening season of the T10 League in the United Arab Emirates. The International Cricket Council (ICC) officially sanctioned the league. In May 2020, Eoin Morgan, the captain of the England cricket team, supported the idea of using the format at the Olympics, with former international cricketers Virender Sehwag and Shahid Afridi also supporting the idea. In June 2022, Cricket West Indies became the first full-member cricket board to start a T10 competition, which is called The 6ixty. Later that year, Sri Lanka Cricket and Zimbabwe Cricket announced plans to start their own T10 competitions in 2023.
The Kashmir Premier League is a professional Twenty20 cricket league organized by Pakistan Cricket Board in Azad Kashmir. The league was founded in 2021. It consists of seven franchises; six teams representing major cities in Kashmir, while one team is representing the Kashmiri diaspora. Each team plays the group stage matches in a single round-robin tournament with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs and ultimately for the final. Matches played in the Kashmir Premier League do not have official T20 status.
The 2023 Legends League Cricket Masters or LLC Masters was a Twenty20 cricket tournament featuring retired players, many of them former internationals. It featured three teams and was held in Doha in March 2023.
