Shahbaz Ahmed (cricketer)

Shahbaz Ahmed (born 11 December 1994) is an Indian international cricketer who plays for the Indian cricket team. He made his international debut on 9 October 2022. He plays for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and Bengal in domestic cricket.[1] He is a bowling all-rounder who bats left-handed.

Shahbaz Ahmed
Personal information
Born (1994-12-11) 11 December 1994 (age 29)
Nuh district, Haryana, India
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RoleAll-rounder
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 247)9 October 2022 v South Africa
Last ODI4 December 2022 v Bangladesh
ODI shirt no.47
T20I debut (cap 110)6 October 2023 v Bangladesh
Last T20I7 October 2023 v Afghanistan
T20I shirt no.47
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2018–presentBengal
2020–2023Royal Challengers Bangalore (squad no. 21)
2024Sunrisers Hyderabad
Career statistics
Competition ODI FC LA T20
Matches 3 23 36 62
Runs scored 1,310 791 719
Batting average 45.17 43.94 24.79
100s/50s 1/9 2/4 0/2
Top score 116 107 60*
Balls bowled 156 3,410 1760 1,002
Wickets 3 77 38 46
Bowling average 41.66 20.28 35.44 26.00
5 wickets in innings 0 4 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 1 0 0
Best bowling 2/32 7/57 4/58 3/7
Catches/stumpings 0/– 9/– 8/– 27/–
Medal record
Men's Cricket
Representing  India
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Hangzhou Team
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 17 October 2023

In August 2022, Shahbaz was named as a replacement for injured Washington Sundar in India's ODI squad for their tour against Zimbabwe.[2] In October 2022, he was named in India's ODI squad, for their series against South Africa.[3] He made his ODI debut on 9 October 2022 against South Africa.[4] He made his T20I debut on 6 October 2023 against Bangladesh.

Early and personal life

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Shahbaz Ahmed was born on 11 December 1994 in the Nuh district of Haryana. He is the son of Ahmed Jan, a clerk in the sub-divisional magistrate's office of Haryana's Nuh district, and Abnam Ahmed, a housewife.[5]

Shahbaz was a brilliant student with 80% in Class 10 and 88% in Class 12. Much to the chagrin of his parents, Shahbaz decided to drop out of his engineering studies to pursue his cricket career. Shahbaz later completed his B.Tech. degree during the Covid lockdown in India.[6]

Once he had taken the decision of pursuing cricket as a career, with his parents' permission Shahbaz shifted to Kolkata where he stayed in a small room with three fellow cricketers, while earning a livelihood by washing utensils.[7]

Shahbaz started playing cricket in the second division in Kolkata, where he was introduced to his coach Partha Pratim Chowdhury by a first class cricketer Pramod Chandila. With the help of Partha he got into Tapan Memorial Club, a cricket academy in Kolkata and started living with Partha's family.[8]

Shahbaz's performances caught the eye of the then Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary who took him under his wings and found a mentor in Bengal Coach Arun Lal. He became Bengal's crisis man and was instrumental in them reaching the finals of 2019-20 Ranji Trophy earning him the nickname Jaanbaaz.[9]

Domestic career

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Shahbaz made his List A debut for Bengal in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy on 20 September 2018 against Jammu and Kashmir team at Chennai. He returned with figures of 1/22 in his debut match.[10] During his maiden first-class cap versus Hyderabad, he scored 27 runs and picked one wicket.[11] He made his Twenty20 debut for Bengal in the 2018–19 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy on 24 February 2019 against Haryana at Cuttack and picked one wicket again besides contributing a vital 12-ball 17 in the lower order that eventually helped his team win the match by three wickets.[12]

So far, Shahbaz has played 13 first-class matches, scoring 559 runs, including four half-centuries, taking 37 first-class wickets at an economy rate of 2.60. In List-A cricket, he has scored 435 runs in 16 innings at an average of 39.54. He has 18 List-A wickets to his name, with his best figures of 3/35. In T20 cricket, he has taken 21 wickets in 23 innings at an economy rate of 6.84 and has recorded one fifty.[13]

In January 2021, against Hyderabad, he became the seventh player from Bengal and first since India pacer Mohammed Shami to claim a Ranji Trophy hat-trick.[14]

In October 2019, he was named in India A's squad for the 2019–20 Deodhar Trophy.[15]

Indian Premier League

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In the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League.[16][17]

He made his debut in the IPL against Rajasthan Royals, during the 33rd match of 2020 Indian Premier League. Shahbaz went wicketless and conceded 18 runs.[18] Throughout the season, he took a couple of wickets in as many games he played with an economy rate of 7.33.[19] In April 2021, Shahbaz took three wickets in one over against the Sunrisers Hyderabad during the sixth match of 2021 Indian Premier League,[20] which was eventually won by his team. His performances earned praise from a section of critics.[21] During the second phase of the tournament, against Rajasthan he took a brace for 10 runs.[22]

In February 2022, he was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.[23] In November 2023, he was traded to Sunrisers Hyderabad.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed replaces injured Washington Sundar for Zimbabwe tour". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  3. ^ "India's squad for ODI series against SA announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  4. ^ "2nd ODI (D/N), Ranchi, October 09, 2022, South Africa tour of India". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  5. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed's strict father still can't believe the Team India debutant dropped out of engineering to play cricket". The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 November 2023.(subscription required)
  6. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed's strict father still can't believe the Team India debutant dropped out of engineering to play cricket". The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 November 2023.(subscription required)
  7. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed's strict father still can't believe the Team India debutant dropped out of engineering to play cricket". The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 November 2023.(subscription required)
  8. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed's strict father still can't believe the Team India debutant dropped out of engineering to play cricket". The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 November 2023.(subscription required)
  9. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed's strict father still can't believe the Team India debutant dropped out of engineering to play cricket". The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 November 2023.(subscription required)
  10. ^ "Elite, Group C, Vijay Hazare Trophy at Chennai, Sep 20 2018". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed Cricketer: Stats & Player Profile". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  12. ^ "Group D, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy at Cuttack, Feb 24 2019". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Shahbaz Ahmed Cricketer: Stats & Player Profile". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  14. ^ "Ranji Trophy: After Tiwary's triple ton, Ahmed takes a hat-trick as Bengal rout Hyderabad". Hindustan Times. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Deodhar Trophy 2019: Hanuma Vihari, Parthiv, Shubman to lead; Yashasvi earns call-up". SportStar. 24 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  16. ^ "IPL auction analysis: Do the eight teams have their best XIs in place?". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  17. ^ "IPL 2020 – Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shahbaz Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi head line-up of exciting uncapped Indian bowlers". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Full Scorecard of Royals vs RCB 33rd Match 2020/21 - Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo.
  19. ^ "IPLT20.com – Indian Premier League Official Website". www.iplt20.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2021. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  20. ^ "6th Match (N), Chennai, Apr 14 2021, Indian Premier League". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Powered by self-belief, Shahbaz Ahmed creates his own chances". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  22. ^ "Full Scorecard of Royals vs RCB 43rd Match 2021 – Score Report | ESPNcricinfo.com". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  23. ^ "IPL 2022 auction: The list of sold and unsold players". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Sunrisers Hyderabad full list of players retained, released and traded ahead of IPL 2024 auction". The Hindu Sportstar. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
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