Fawad Ahmed Australian Cricketer: Age, Wife, Pakistan, Bowling, IPL, CPL

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going”, an overused quote nowadays but it fits perfectly for Fawad Ahmed. From playing first-class cricket in Pakistan to being an asylum-seeker in Australia and going on to represent their national team is nothing but a fairytale. Having fled from Pakistan after life threats from the Taliban’s for his work towards woman empowerment, Fawad landed in Melbourne with a temporary visa and a bag of clothes on his back. Despite having a Masters degree he couldn’t land on a job due to his temporary visa and he applied to become an asylum-seeker. He did whatever works that came his way and was struggling to get used to the unknown country.

After watching D Hussey bat in a Shield final, the cricketing desire in him started to ignite. He registered himself in the Hoopers Crossing Club in Melbourne and started to play for them dominating the league matches with his leg-spin. After two standout seasons, he wanted to play higher levels with his exemplary skills and so he joined the Melbourne University Cricket Club.

Once at the MCG he got frustrated watching the Victoria Bushrangers net session and walked up to the assistant coach Simon Helmot and queried him that he’s a legspinner and whether he could bowl. Impressed by his boldness, Simon allowed him to bowl at Rob Quiney and Fawad bowled him twice in the first two balls and switched everyone’s focus onto him. After some impressive spells at the nets, Helmot asked him to come back and train with them regularly. Meanwhile, at the MUCC their president Derek Bennet was pushing the likes of J Sutherland, Tony Dodemaide, Malcolm Gray, etc,…. to appeal to the Federal immigration minster for Fawad’s asylum status. Meanwhile, Fawad was bowling to the likes of Ed Cowan, Ponting and Clarke at the national team nets and impressed them with his leg-spinners. He soon got his permanent visa and CA waived some eligibility restrictions to allow him to represent Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.

Soon Fawad made his Shield debut and was fast-tracked to the national team after the Australian Senate passed a bill and a change was made to the Australian Citizenship Law making Fawad Ahmed an eligible Australian citizen. As everything happened too quickly it took Fawad some time to process it all combined with the pressure on him from the media resulted in him not concentrating enough and couldn’t make his Test debut despite being named in the squad for the Ashes tour in 2013. He did make his ODI and T20I debut against Scotland and England respectively in 2013. He got a call-back to the Test in 2015 for the Windies tour but wasn’t able to play a game there. The resilient spinner retired from first-class cricket in 2019 at the age of 37 to focus on his white-ball cricket and hopefully play the T20I World Cup. He started to play in a lot of league crickets all around the world and even ended up getting the most wickets in the 2018 CPL for the Trinbago Knight Riders whom he’ll be representing in the 2020 CPL season.

Role: Leg Spinner and Right-handed batsman

Physical Appearance

Fawad Ahmed Height: 6 foot 0 inches (1.83 m)
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Tattoo: NA

Personal Life

Date of Birth: 5^th February 1982
Fawad Ahmed Age (as on August 2020): 38 Years
Birth Place: Marghuz, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan
Zodiac sign: Aquarius
Nationality: Australian
School: NA
College: NA
Educational Qualifications: Masters in International relations and political science
Signature: NA

Family

Father: NA
Mother: NA
Sister: NA
Brother: NA
Coach: NA
Religion: Islam
Address: NA

Cricket Career

International Debut

        Test: Not Played
  ODI: 3^rd September 2013 Vs Scotland at Edinburgh
        T20I: 29^th August 2013 Vs England at Southampton

Jersey Number: 52
Major Teams: Australia, Abbottabad, Australia A, Melbourne Renegades, Montreal Tigers, Pakistan Customs, Perth Scorchers, Prime Minister’s XI, Quetta Gladiators, St Lucia Zouks, Sydney Thunder, Trinbago Knight Riders, Vancouver Knights, Victoria
CPL Team: Trinbago Knight Riders (2020)

Fawad Ahmed Bowling

Fawad Ahmed Wife & Children

Marital Status: NA
Fawad Ahmed Wife: NA
Marriage Date: NA
Children: NA

Controversies

After his selection to the Australian team in 2013, CA queried Fawad whether he would be able to sport the sponsor’s logo, Victoria Bitter – a beer company on his jersey. As it clashed with his Islamic beliefs, both Fawad and CA mutually agreed for him to not sport it. It drew criticism from former Test player Doug Walters and ex-Wallaby rugby union wing David Campese. Both apologised later for their controversial remarks.