Hashmatullah Shahidi

A solid left-hander whose game is built around a steady accumulation of runs, Hashmatullah Shahidi isn't your typical modern-day batter. He's not a big hitter, nor does he play the innovative shots you see in T20 cricket. But he brings with him a certain stability that has made him an integral part of the Afghanistan ODI and Test teams over the years.

Shahidi made his international debut in 2013 at the age of 18. Back then, Afghanistan cricket was still in its infancy at the international level, and it took him a few years to establish himself as part of the set-up. He was in and out of the team and didn't get a consistent run during that time. But that changed in 2018 when he struck a hattrick of fifties in the Asia Cup where Afghanistan had a big impact. They beat Bangladesh in one of the games and had very close matches against Pakistan and India in that tournament. Earlier in the same year, he also had the honour of participating in Afghanistan's very first Test which took place against India in Bengaluru.

In 2019, Shahidi was part of Afghanistan's squad for the ODI World Cup and he struck fifties against England and New Zealand in that tournament. Then in 2021, he scored his first of two double-hundreds against Zimbabwe in Test cricket. He was appointed as the captain in both Tests and ODIs a few months later, and it was under his leadership that Afghanistan put on a superb show at the 2023 ODI World Cup where they beat the likes of Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and Netherlands. Shahidi struck fifties in a couple of those games.