A lanky fast bowler scaled at 6 feet 5 inches, Ahmed on his day was brutal to say the least. Unlike most of the pacers from Pakistan, Shabbir relied on line and length. He could seam the ball more than he could swing it. He did it both ways and reversed it at will with the old ball to make the life of the batsmen miserable.

But a suspect action derailed his blossoming career and despite being the then joint quickest from Pakistan to 50 wickets( 10 Tests along with Waqar Younis). Mohammad Asif later equaled the record and in 2015, Yasir Shah went one better and completed 50 scalps in 9 games. He was called for a dodgy action four times in his career and his last appearance for Pakistan was in 2007 in a T20I.

His domestic sojourn continued till 2013 after which he called it quits. Post 2007, he decided to be part of ICL and ended all his chances of an international reincarnation.