Pakistan have handed a debut to 38-year-old Asif Afridi for the second Test against South Africa in Rawalpindi, making him one of the oldest debutants in recent men's Test history.
Asif Afridi makes Test debut at 38 years of age
Pakistan replaced right-arm seamer Hasan Ali with left-arm spinner Asif Afridi for the second Test in Rawalpindi, indicating that spin could play an even bigger role in the game than it did in the first Test in Lahore. South Africa, meanwhile, brought in Keshav Maharaj and Marco Jansen at the expense of Prenelan Subrayen and Wiaan Mulder.
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Aged 38 years and 299 days as of today (October 20), Afridi has become the second-oldest men's Test debutant for Pakistan, going past Tabish Khan, who was aged 36 years 146 days when he debuted against Zimbabwe in 2021. The oldest Pakistani cricketer to debut in Test matches is Miran Bakhsh, who played his first match aged 47 years 284 days in 1955.
Bakhsh is also the second oldest male cricketer ever to make his Test debut after James Southerton who was 49 years 119 days old when he played in the first ever Test match in 1877.
Afridi is also the second oldest cricketer to make his men's Test debut in the 21st century after Ed Joyce, who was aged 39 years 231 days when he played in Ireland's first Test in 2019.
Who is Asif Afridi?
Afridi made his first-class debut way back in 2009, but his story has been anything but straightforward. In 16 years, he has only played 57 first-class matches and picked up 198 wickets at an average of 25.49. After playing three games in his first season in 2009, Afridi's next first-class appearance came in 2015. There was another three-year gap between 2018 and 2021 where he didn't play any first-class games.
Since 2023 however, he has been a consistent performer, having taken 80 out of his 198 first-class wickets in the last three years. Afridi also featured for Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2025, taking seven wickets from nine matches at 24.71.
With Noman Ali and Sajid Khan also in the XI, Afridi will serve the role of the third spinner in the Pakistan XI.
Also read: I re-watched Noman Ali's 383 balls against South Africa – here’s what makes him so good
2nd Test, Pakistan vs South Africa
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Oldest men's Test debutants
| Player | Age | Opposition | Ground | Start Date |
| James Southerton (ENG) | 49y 119d | v Australia | Melbourne | 15 Mar 1877 |
| Miran Bakhsh (PAK) | 47y 284d | v India | Lahore | 29 Jan 1955 |
| Don Blackie (AUS) | 46y 253d | v England | Sydney | 14 Dec 1928 |
| Herbert Ironmonger (AUS) | 46y 237d | v England | Brisbane | 30 Nov 1928 |
| Nelson Betancourt (WI) | 42y 242d | v England | Port of Spain | 1 Feb 1930 |
| Rockley Wilson (ENG) | 41y 337d | v Australia | Sydney | 25 Feb 1921 |
| Rustomji Jamshedji (IND) | 41y 27d | v England | Mumbai | 15 Dec 1933 |
| Archie Wiles (WI) | 40y 345d | v England | Manchester | 22 Jul 1933 |
| Omar Henry (SA) | 40y 295d | v India | Durban | 13 Nov 1992 |
| Sep Kinneir (ENG) | 40y 216d | v Australia | Sydney | 15 Dec 1911 |
| Harry Lee (ENG) | 40y 110d | v South Africa | Johannesburg | 13 Feb 1931 |
| Geoff Chubb (SA) | 40y 56d | v England | Nottingham | 7 Jun 1951 |
| Cotar Ramaswami (IND) | 40y 39d | v England | Manchester | 25 Jul 1936 |
| George Challenor (WI) | 39y 361d | v England | Lord's | 23 Jun 1928 |
| Arthur Wood (ENG) | 39y 360d | v Australia | The Oval | 20 Aug 1938 |
| Berkeley Gaskin (WI) | 39y 306d | v England | Bridgetown | 21 Jan 1948 |
| Ewart Astill (ENG) | 39y 298d | v South Africa | Johannesburg | 24 Dec 1927 |
| Somachandra de Silva (SL) | 39y 251d | v England | Colombo (PSS) | 17 Feb 1982 |
| Ed Joyce (IRE) | 39y 231d | v Pakistan | Dublin (Malahide) | 11 May 2018 |
| Harry Makepeace (ENG) | 39y 131d | v Australia | Melbourne | 31 Dec 1920 |
| Jimmy Cook (SA) | 39y 105d | v India | Durban | 13 Nov 1992 |
| Amir Elahi (IND) | 39y 102d | v Australia | Sydney | 12 Dec 1947 |
| Ted Bowley (ENG) | 39y 37d | v South Africa | Leeds | 13 Jul 1929 |
| Asif Afridi (PAK) | 38y 299d | v South Africa | Rawalpindi | 20 Oct 2025 |
