Meet Asif Afridi – Once banned for breaching corruption code in 2022, makes Test debut for Pakistan aged 38

Pakistan, on Monday (Oct 20), handed a Test debut to Asif Afridi at the age of 38 during second home Test vs South Africa, making him the oldest debut for the team in their history of Test cricket. The record for oldest player at Test debut for Pakistan belongs to Miran Bakhsh who was 47 when he played his first Test in 1955 against India. This also means that Asif is not only the oldest Test debutant in 21st century for Pakistan but second in all of Test cricket history. Ahead of Asif, Ireland’s Ed Joyce is the oldest Test debutant in 21st century when he played his first Test in 2018, aged 39 years and 231 days.

Afridi made his first class debut in Pakistan back in 2009. He was also banned by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) anti-corruption panel for infringing the board’s code on conduct in 2022. His ban initially was for two years which was later reduced to one year when he was allowed to make a comeback into the domestic circuit in 2023. The PCB, however, offered no explanation for reducing the ban time-period, as per ESPNCricinfo. The spinner replaced Hasan Ali in the playing XI from the first Test against Pakistan which they had won b 93 runs.