Pakistan left-arm seamer Usman Shinwari has announced his international retirement, six years after his last appearance at the top level.
Shinwari, now 31, represented Pakistan in 17 ODIs, 16 T20Is and a solitary Test. In ODIs, he took 34 wickets at 18.61, including three for-fors and two five-fors. Both five-wicket hauls came against Sri Lanka across a two-year gap. It was also the team against whom he played his only Test, in 2019. He was ruled out of the next Test due to typhoid, never to be picked up in Tests again.
Usman Shinwari retires: A career hit by injuries
Injuries were a major deterrent in his quest for more game time. In 2017, he suffered a fracture in his lumbar spine that ruled him out for a considerable time. He had a recurrence in 2020, which kept him out of action for another long stretch. Consequently, in November 2021, he announced he would be stepping away from red-ball cricket in a bid to play the other formats more. That year, he also lost his central contract.
Known for extracting early swing, Shinwari was drafted into the T20I side in 2013 before he turned 20. With Mohammad Amir not available, Pakistan would have looked to groom another left-arm quick. However, after two T20Is against Sri Lanka, he was dropped, not to be picked again until 2017. When he returned, Shaheen Shah Afridi had broken into the side as well, providing stiff competition.
Shinwari played in the Pakistan Super League for three teams, and featured in the Lanka Premier League and a season of the Big Bash League (for the Melbourne Renegades). He was last seen in action in the 2025 National T20 Cup, where he went wicketless across four matches. His final List A game came in the Pakistan Cup in November 2023: in that edition, he cut through Peshawar with a five-wicket haul.
Shinwari was part of Pakistan's Asia Cup squad of 2018, taking three wickets from as many games.
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