Ali Hassimshah Omarshah, known as Ali Shah is a former Zimbabwean cricketer born on 7 August 1959. He is an all-rounder cricketer who batted left-handed and bowled right-arm medium pace.
Ali Shah comes from a keen cricketing family, almost an essential thing for a top player in this country. His father was the major influence and main motivation on his career; he played a great deal of club cricket himself. He regularly took the young Ali to matches where he himself was playing, and Ali remembers his job was to prepare his father’s kit, polishing his boots and pads. Ali’s father was initially a member of Universals, for whom he has played most of his cricket, and then moved to Sunrise.
Batting Averages of Ali Shah
| Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s | Ct | |
| Tests | 3 | 5 | 122 | 62 | 24.4 | 429 | 28.43 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| ODIs | 28 | 28 | 437 | 60* | 16.8 | 860 | 50.81 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 2 | 6 |
| First-class | 45 | 74 | 1766 | 200* | 25.59 | – | – | 3 | 5 | – | – | 21 |
| List A | 85 | 82 | 1452 | 98 | 18.61 | – | – | 0 | 5 | – | – | 35 |
Bowling Averages
| Mat | Inns | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | |
| Tests | 3 | 3 | 125 | 1 | 1/46 | 1/82 | 125 | 4.03 | 186 |
| ODIs | 28 | 25 | 812 | 18 | 3/33 | 3/33 | 45.11 | 4.52 | 59.8 |
| First-class | 45 | – | 1710 | 35 | 4/113 | – | 48.85 | 2.68 | 109 |
| List A | 85 | – | 1897 | 40 | 3/33 | 3/33 | 47.42 | 4.59 | 61.9 |
In Test cricket, his debut match was Vs New Zealand at Bulawayo on 1 November 1992 and his last test match was Vs Sri Lanka at Colombo on 18 September 1996. His ODI debut match was Vs Australia at Nottingham on 9 June 1983 and he played Last ODI match against Vs India at Colombo on 1 September 1996.
In Test Cricket, he did 122 runs in 3 matches with the average of 24.40 and strike rate of 28.43 and In ODI cricket he scored 437 runs in 28 matches with the average of 16.80 and strike rate of 50.81. His Test highest score was 62 and ODI highest score was 60*.
Shah played 3 Cricket world cups, in 1983, 1987 and 1992 and in 1986 and 1990 when the Zimbabwean team won ICC Trophy he was the member of the team. He played domestically for Mashonaland in the Logan Cup, towards the end of his cricketer.
Ali Shah became a television commentator and a selector of the national team, after retiring from playing cricket. In 2004, he was removed from the latter role following the sacking of captain Heath Streak.
Also Check:-