Former Pakistan star all-rounder Shahid Afridi turned one year older on Monday, March 1 as he informed on Twitter thanking fans and also revealing his age. However, the reveal didn't go well with the netizens and created more confusion about the cricketer's age, given the discrepancies in his age in official records and the one, which he mentioned in his autobiography.
Afridi's age has been a constantly discussed topic off the field over the years and it again became the centre of the attraction on his birthday. As, according to ICC records, his date of birth is March 1, 1980, but in his autobiography, 'Game Changer', he mentioned that he was born in 1975. This created a massive uproar as he was accused of hiding his real age.
However, the confusion got elongated and deeper as in the tweet where he thanked his fans, he wrote that he has turned 44, bringing a new age into the mix. Taking to his social media, "Thank you very much for all the lovely birthday wishes - 44 today! My family and my fans are my biggest assets. Really enjoying my stint with Multan and hope to produce match winning performances for all MS fans."
The differences in age of official records, what Afridi wrote in his autobiography and what he revealed on his birthday on/ Monday, led to varied reactions on Twitter.
Pakistani journalist Danyal Rasool, while wishing 'Lala' on his birthday couldn't hold back himself from pointing out the difference in the age. "Happy birthday to Shahid Afridi. We have his age @ESPNcricinfo as 41, his autobiography says 46, and now we have 44!"
Afridi, who became the youngest player to score the fastest century in the ODIs in just 37 balls in the year 1996, achieved that record as a 16-year old and if he is indeed 44 years old, that means he scored that century as a 20-year old.
Twitterati too were confused as to what his age really is and came up with funny reactions too. Some of the users said that Afridi took 'age is just a number' seriously.
Here are some of the reactions:
