Born on 27th July, 1985 to a family having Pakistani background, Shahzad created history by becoming the first British born Asian to play for Yorkshire. Shahzad managed only a solitary game during his development phase in 2006 owing to an injury.

An injury free season and the promotion of Tim Bresnan to the national team meant that Shahzad enjoyed his best ever year in domestic circuit picking up 40 wickets and scoring 445 late order runs in 2009. The performance helped him leapfrog past his competitors to gain a spot in the development squad during England's tour of South Africa in 2009. The international call-up came soon after when England toured Bangladesh in early 2010.

Shahzad made his ODI debut in that tour at Chittagong and was also a part of the World Cup squad. He was taken for plenty by India but salvaged himself a bit with 3 wickets against Bangladesh. His Test debut was also against Bangladesh at Old Trafford in 2010 when Stuart Broad was rested. He ended up with decent match figures, but with the surfeit of bowling riches on offer in the England side, Ajmal has had to wait for his second chance.

Ajmal did well to impress Andy Flower, the English coach and he got his opportunities with the ODI squad and also made it to the 2011 World Cup. In the mega-event, playing against India at Bangalore, Shahzad struck a decisive six in the final stages of the match which helped England tie the high-scoring thriller. However, he didn't make a re-entry into the national side since the World Cup. Since then, he has been regularly playing in the domestic circuit and has represented sides like Lancashire, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.


By Pradeep Krishnamurthy