He featured in just 34 matches across formats for the Shaheens.
Pakistan speedster Usman Shinwari had made a decision to hang his boots from international cricket. Shinwari, who was not a part of Pakistan’s playing XI since 2019, broke the news that he would not be engaged in cricket at the highest level anymore.
Making his debut in 2013, the left-arm pacer enjoyed six years of cricket representing his country. However, he could only manage 34 appearences over the span of six years. This included just a solitary Test appearance, 17 ODIs and 16 games in the shortest format.
The 31-year-old fast bowler made his international debut in Dubai against Sri Lanka in December 2013. He did not get a chance to bowl his full quota of four overs, and went for nine runs off the only over he bowled. Having said that, Shinwari got a chance to feature in three more T20Is before making his ODI debut.
His first match in the 50-over format was also against the Sri Lankans, but came four years after his T20I debut. He rocked the Lankan batting order with a five-wicket haul for 34 runs. To add to that, these five-wickets came in a space of just 21 deliveries, which increased its impact.
Shinwari caught the attention of the selectors back in 2013, when he was 19 years old. He was playing the Final match of the Departmental T20 Cup in Pakistan, in which he performed exceedingly well against Misbah-ul-Haq’s Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited.
In just 3.1 overs, the speedster picked a five-wicket haul, giving away just nine runs to the opposition. He displayed brilliant seam and swing in his spell and was quickly in the limelight. On the back of this performance, he was drafted into the T20I side for Pakistan quickly. But he failed to replicate his domestic form at the highest level.
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Injuries are an unavoidable part of a fast bowler’s career, and Shinwari had his fair share of injuries to deal with. His career in international cricket was hampered by a back injury, which was not a one-off. The same injury kept pulling him down on multiple occasions at different stages in his six-year international stint.
In 2019, he became the first bowler to pick a five-wicket haul in international cricket on Pakistan soil since 2009. This was his second-five wicket haul, which came in his penultimate game for Pakistan. However, the bowler was last seen in in Pakistan’s National T20 Cup for the Quetta region. But he wasn’t able to pick a single wicket in four games.
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