5 popular players who made their ODI debuts at a very young age

Australia v India - Tri-Series Game 10
Sachin Tendulkar was one such player, who made his debut at a very young age

During the third ODI between England and Bangladesh, Rehan Ahmed became the youngest player to represent England in ODI cricket.

Rehan, who was 18 years and 205 days old at the time, broke the long-standing record previously held by Ben Hollioake. He recently became the youngest player to play Test cricket for England.

Ahmed did not really set the stage on fire on debut, returning figures of 1-62, but the young leg-spinner is one to look out for in the near future. Here, we look at the other five popular cricketers who made their ODI debuts at a very young age.


#1 Shahid Afridi

Pakistan have traditionally been a country that fast tracks players at a very young age. Shahid Afridi was one of them, having been handed his maiden ODI cap at the age of 16 years and 215 days.

Afridi made his debut in a game against Kenya in Nairobi in 1996. He has played 398 games in the format, scoring 8064 runs and picking up 395 wickets.


#2 Sachin Tendulkar

The great Sachin Tendulkar was also inducted into the one-day format at an early age. He made his debut at the age of 16 years and 238 days in a game against Pakistan in 1989.

Tendlkar went on to play 463 ODIs, scoring 18426 runs in the format, which is a world record. He has smashed 49 centuries in the format, which is also a record. He played his last ODI in 2012 against Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Dhaka.


#3 Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Afghanistan's Mujeeb Ur Rahman made his ODI debut against Ireland in Sharjah at the age of 16 years and 252 days. Rahman has represented his country in 55 ODIs to date, picking up 79 wickets at an average of 24.76.

His last ODI was against Sri Lanka in 2022, but the talented spinner will be determined to play many more games for his nation.


#4 Abdul Razzaq

Abdul Razzak, who represented Pakistan in 265 ODIs, made his debut at the age of 16 years and 235 days.

Razzak has scored 5080 runs and taken 269 wickets in the format and was a crucial part of Pakistan's lineup during his playing days. He played the last of his 265 games in 2011 against Sri Lanka.


#5 Rashid Khan

Another Afghan spinner, Rashid Khan, made his ODI debut at the age of 17 years and 28 days in a game against Zimbabwe in 2015.

Rashid has played 86 ODIs in all, picking up 163 wickets in the process. He has troubled the best batters in his short career. He is currently the captain of Afghanistan's T20 side.

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