Samiullah Shinwari

Samiullah Shenwari is a right-handed batsman and a leg-break bowler, who plays for Afghanistan. He made his First-Class debut against Zimbabwe XI in August 2009. Shenwari was a part of the Afghan team that got promoted to Division Two, allowing them to participate in the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier, where they gained ODI status.

Shenwari made his ODI debut against Scotland in April 2009. He made his T20I debut in February 2010 against Ireland. Since then, Shenwari has been an important part of the Afghan team.

On March 1, 2014, Shenwari scored a brilliant 81 against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, thus helping his team register their first ODI win against a Test playing nation. He put on a 164-run partnership along with Asghar Stanikzai for the sixth wicket, which is the fifth highest partnership for the sixth wicket in the history of ODI Cricket and the third highest ODI partnership for Afghanistan.

Shenwari has been a very useful allrounder for Afghanistan. Apart from being an economical bowler, Shenwari has been very handy with the bat as well. His current batting average is above 35 and he has also picked up more that 40 wickets in ODIs at an economy rate of under five. He has been a regular in the national side and is expected to be chosen in the playing XI for the World Cup 2015 as well.

By Sonali Dhulap and Sidhant Maheshwari