Raees Ahmadzai

Raees Ahmadzai

Personal information
Full name	Raees Khan Ahmadzai
Born	(1984-09-03) 3 September 1984 (age 32) Logar Province, Afghanistan
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm off break
International information
National side	Afghanistan
ODI debut (cap 10)	19 April 2009 v Scotland
Last ODI	18 February 2010 v Canada
ODI shirt no.	33
T20I debut (cap 8)	1 February 2010 v Ireland
Last T20I	5 May 2010 v South Africa
T20I shirt no.	33
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2007	Sebastianites Cricket and Athletic Club
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA Matches 5 8 3 16 Runs scored 88 91 90 283 Batting average 29.33 30.33 18.00 25.72 100s/50s –/– –/– –/– –/1 Top score 39 33* 27 50* Balls bowled 24 – 36 150 Wickets – – – 1 Bowling average – – – 107.00 5 wickets in innings – – – – 10 wickets in match – – – – Best bowling – – – 1/37 Catches/stumpings 2/– 2/– 1/– 6/–
Source: Cricinfo, 19 May 2010

Raees Khan Ahmadzai (born 3 September 1984) is a former Afghan cricketer who represented the Afghanistan national cricket team until his retirement in May 2010. Ahmadzai is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off break. He is also UNICEF National Goodwill Ambassador.

Ahmadzai was born in the village of Azra, Logar Province, Afghanistan. He is from the Kuchi tribe, along with former teammates Mohammad Nabi and Dawlat Ahmadzai. He is far from certain about his age. In an interview in Potchefstroom with Will Luke in April 2009, he said, "Talking to my mother, she works out my age by seeing who the president was. Unofficially I'm nearly 25, give or take three years. Or four. I could be 21 or 28." Luke's own opinion, going by "Deep-set wrinkles and a calm demeanour", was twenty-eight. The general consensus from Cricinfo and CricketArchive is that he was born on 3 September 1984.

Ahmadzai spent much of his early years in refugee camps with his family, fleeing from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent Civil War that followed the Soviet withdrawal. Ahmadzai, like many of his teammates learnt the game in neighbouring Pakistan, in Ahmadzai's case in a Peshawar schoolyard.

Ahmadzai made his debut for Afghanistan against Rahim Yar Khan in the 2002/3 Cornelius Trophy. Ahmadzai made his international debut for Afghanistan against Hong Kong in the 2004 ACC Trophy. Ahmadzai represented Afghanistan in the following tournament in 2006. During the 2006 tournament, Ahmadzai captained the side.