ISLAMABAD: If his last two appearances are anything to go by, Pakistani pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi appears to have rediscovered his trademark ability to strike in the very first over of a T20 innings – a skill that once made him one of the most feared fast bowlers in the game.
It was clear in that 2021 T20 World Cup clash when Rohit Sharma, facing his first delivery of the evening, was undone by a ball that swung into him.
Attempting to play across the line, he missed entirely and was trapped leg-before.
India were 1-1 just four balls into the match – a moment from which they never quite recovered. It was their first-ever World Cup defeat to Pakistan across all formats.
But that was not a one-off. Shaheen has long had a reputation for early breakthroughs, especially in T20s. Being a left-arm seamer certainly plays into his hands.
After all, right-handed batters far outnumber left-handers in men’s T20 cricket (by a ratio of roughly 3.5 to 1), and even in 2025, seamers remain the go-to option for opening the bowling, according to Wisden.
Most wickets in the first over of a T20 innings
| Bowler | Arm | Type | Wickets | Average | Economy | Strike rate |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Left | Seam | 54 | 18.75 | 6.24 | 18 |
| David Willey | Left | Seam | 48 | 21.72 | 5.66 | 23 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | Right | Seam | 46 | 22.56 | 4.99 | 27 |
| Mohammad Amir | Left | Seam | 46 | 19.56 | 5.05 | 23 |
| Trent Boult | Left | Seam | 41 | 23.43 | 5.78 | 24 |
| Sohail Tanvir | Left | Seam | 36 | 29.63 | 5.33 | 33 |
| Tim Southee | Right | Seam | 31 | 22.64 | 6.27 | 22 |
| Dale Steyn | Right | Seam | 27 | 18.51 | 4.67 | 24 |
| Akeal Hosein | Left | Spin | 26 | 23.50 | 5.55 | 25 |
Wickets in the opening over are rare. Statistically, it is the lowest-scoring over of a T20 innings. The freshness of the ball plays its part, as does the presence of two fresh batters at the crease.
Slow run rate in the first over
Take Steyn’s figures, for instance – they show how batters often prefer to see off the first over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar concedes under-five an over, Mohammad Amir just over that, while the likes of Willey, Tanvir, and the lone spinner Hosein all keep it below six. Only Southee concedes runs at a rate close to Amir’s.
What sets Shaheen apart is his strike rate. At a time in the game when batters are least likely to take risks, his ability to deliver breakthroughs remains unmatched among his peers.
In T20 cricket, teams typically run out of deliveries before they lose all their wickets, unlike ODIs.
As Rahul Iyer once noted, winning teams in men’s ODIs take all ten wickets just 58.8 per cent of the time; in T20Is, that drops to 34.5 per cent, according to Wisden.
However, early wickets remain game-changers, as they reduce a team’s access to their most valuable resource – overs – for a longer stretch.
Shaheen claims a wicket in the first over once every three matches. The next best among his contemporaries manages it roughly once in four games. That makes Shaheen an incredibly valuable T20 asset.
Two matches, three blows
Shaheen has not been the same force in Test cricket for some time. Since the start of 2023, he has taken 17 wickets in six Tests at an average of 45.47 – a sharp decline from his earlier average of 24.86.
While the sample is small, the decline was steady enough for selectors to drop their former spearhead. He is no longer a guaranteed starter in the Test XI.
His ODI performances held firm until 2024 but have dipped sharply in the new year. In five matches (including two in the Champions Trophy), he has taken just eight wickets at 43.62, conceding 7.25 runs per over.
Again, it is a limited sample, but critics have linked the downward trend across formats, according to Cricinfo.
That includes T20s. In nine games in 2025 – four for Fortune Barishal in the BPL, four for Pakistan in New Zealand, and one for Lahore Qalandars in the PSL – Shaheen managed six wickets at an average of 48.67, going at 9.12 runs an over.
In one BPL match, he was even used as a first-change bowler. Though he removed Finn Allen in the first over of the third T20I, that owed more to Haris Rauf’s brilliant catch than Shaheen’s delivery. The signs were not promising.
Potential comeback
Then came a match defending 220 against Quetta Gladiators. Shaheen moved the fifth delivery into Saud Shakeel, who could only loft it to Fakhar Zaman at mid-on. He dismissed Allen soon after – albeit not in the first over.
It was a small but meaningful step. And against rivals Karachi Kings, he went one better. His second ball found David Warner’s edge.
His fourth, a searing delivery, beat the in-form Sam Billings, who misjudged it and missed – a dismissal style well known to Shaheen fans.
Of course, two games alone do not confirm the full return of a first-over mojo – one who was already top of the leader board.
But they certainly hint at a potential comeback for one of T20 cricket’s most feared fast bowlers.
