Shaheen Shah Afridi is a Pakistani International cricketer and the former captain of the Pakistan National Cricket team in the T20I format. He captains the former captain of the Lahore Qalandars in the PSL. Under his leadership, Lahore Qalandars won their first PSL title in 2022 and then again in the 2023 season, becoming the first team in PSL history to successfully defend their title. He is the first Pakistani to win the Garfield Sobers Trophy.

Shaheen began playing cricket at Landi Kotal's Tatara Ground. Shaheen, who had previously only played tennis-ball cricket, was introduced to hard-ball cricket by Riaz Afridi during the FATA Under-16 tryouts in 2015. Due to his achievements at this level, Shaheen was chosen for the November 2015 Under-16 tour of Australia, where he contributed four wickets to the team's 2-1 wins in the One-Day and Twenty20 series.

Afridi was chosen to play for Pakistan at the Under-19 Asia Cup, which took place in Sri Lanka in December 2016. In Pakistan's nine-wicket victory over Singapore in their opening U-19 Asia Cup encounter, he claimed three wickets for 27 runs. 

Afridi agreed to a two-year deal with Dhaka Dynamites, a significant Bangladesh Premier League team, at the beginning of September 2017. Later, on September 26, 2017, he made his first-class debut for Khan Research Laboratories in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for 2017–18. He claimed the most wickets for 39 runs in the second innings of the game as a Pakistani bowler making his first-class debut.

Afridi was included in Pakistan's squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup in December 2017. With 12 wickets, he was Pakistan's top wicket-taker in the competition. The International Cricket Council (ICC) recognized Afridi as the team's rising star after Pakistan's tournament matches. 

On February 23, 2018, Afridi made his Twenty20 debut for the Lahore Qalandars in the 2018 Pakistan Super League (PSL). Afridi claimed five wickets for four runs in Lahore's PSL match against the Multan Sultans the following month. Afridi was chosen player of the match as Lahore defeated the opposition by a margin of six wickets.

Afridi was included in the Baluchistan team roster for the 2018 Pakistan Cup in April of 2018. on April 25, 2018, he made his debut for Baluchistan in List A. 

He was included in the Pakistan Twenty20 International (T20I) team's March 2018 roster for their series against the West Indies. On April 3, 2018, he made his Pakistani T20I debut against the West Indies. Further, he was selected for Pakistan's One Day International (ODI) team for the 2018 Asia Cup in September of that year. On September 21, 2018, he played his first-ever ODI for Pakistan against Afghanistan. 

He was included in Pakistan's Test team for their series against New Zealand in November 2018. On December 3, 2018, he played his first Test match for Pakistan against New Zealand.

He was added to Pakistan's Cricket World Cup squad in April 2019. Shaheen finished with stats of 6/35 in the encounter against Bangladesh on July 5, 2019, making history as the youngest bowler to take five wickets in a World Cup competition. In a World Cup match, these were also the best bowling statistics recorded by a Pakistani bowler. 

In the second Test match against Sri Lanka in December 2019, Afridi claimed his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket history.

Afridi's participation in the 2020 T20 Blast in England with the Hampshire County Cricket Club was revealed in December 2019. Hampshire declared in September 2020 that he would be eligible for the 2020 T20 Blast following the completion of his national responsibilities.

Afridi earned his second five-wicket haul in three T20 matches on October 2, 2020, in the 2020–21 National T20 Cup, with figures of 5/20 from his four overs. Three days later, Afridi defeated Sindh by taking five wickets in the match (5/21). He ended the test match against West Indies with a 10-wicket haul and became the third youngest pacer to take a 10-wicket haul in a Test match in the 21st century, with Irfan Pathan and Kagiso Rabada being the other two. 

Afridi signed a contract with Middlesex in October 2021, allowing him to compete in English league games through July 2022. To get ready for the home series the national team would play the West Indies, he did, however, return to Pakistan in the middle of May. He was appointed Lahore Qalandars captain in December 2021. He won the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year in 2021. He also won the PCB's Impactful Performance of the Year award in 2021.

Further in 2022, when he won the PSL while captaining Qalandars, he became the youngest skipper to win a T20 league. He finished the competition as the top wicket-taker as well.

He became the fastest pacer and bowler from Pakistan to reach 100 wickets in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) on October 31. He finished with 100 wickets in 51 matches, surpassing Saqlain Mushtaq's 53-match record. 

Following Babar Azam's resignation as captain of the T20I team across all three formats of the game, Afridi was named captain of that team on November 15, 2023, and is still leading Pakistan international cricket team in the T20 format.