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Notable Afghan cricketers
Afghanistan is a relatively new entrant to international cricket, with the sport gaining popularity in refugee camps in Pakistan in the 1980s and 1990s and catching on rapidly among the youth on their return home. The country became an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2001. Since then, the team has risen rapidly, gaining One Day International (ODI) status in 2009 and Test status in 2017, before reaching the semifinals of the 2024 ICC Menâs T20 World Cup. Here is a list of Afghanistanâs top cricketers who have played a critical role in its rise.
Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan is Afghanistanâs most famous cricketer. He is known for his bowling accuracy and variations and is considered one of the hardest bowlers to play in Twenty20 (T20) cricket. He has played in T20 leagues across the world and was the first Afghan cricketer to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL), doing so in 2017 when he was still a teenager. Khan is the leading wicket taker in T20 menâs internationals and the T20 format overall. He has also led Afghanistan across all three forms of the game and has emerged as a reliable pinch-hitting all-rounder.
- Full name: Rashid Khan Arman
- International career span: 2015â
- Playing style: Right-arm leg-spin bowler, right-hand batter
Mohammad Nabi
Mohammad Nabi is one of Afghanistanâs most experienced players and is a prominent bowling all-rounder. As a child, he learned to play cricket in Pakistan, where his family had fled after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He featured in the teamâs first-ever One Day International (ODI; limited-overs format), against Scotland in an ICC Menâs Cricket World Cup qualifier playoff in 2009, where he scored a half-century and was named the player of the match. He has gone on to lead Afghanistan in several global tournaments, play more than 300 international matches, and see the country earn Test-playing status in 2017. Nabi has also played in multiple T20 leagues across the world. He retired from red-ball cricket (long-format matches played using a red leather ball) in 2019 to focus on the shorter formats of the game.
- International career span: 2009â
- Playing style: Right-arm off-spin bowler, right-hand batter
Mujeeb Zadran
Mujeeb Zadran (also known as Mujeeb Ur Rahman) is a mystery spinner known for his bowling variations, which he has deployed in multiple T20 leagues. He frequently bowls the early overs inside the powerplay (initial period of an innings during which fielding restrictions apply) and has an excellent economy rate of under seven runs per over in T20 matches. In 2018 Mujeebâs 5â50 against Zimbabwe made him the youngest-ever bowler to take five wickets in an innings in an ODI.
- Full name: Mujeeb Ur Rahman
- International career span: 2017â
- Playing style: Right-arm off-spin bowler
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Gurbaz is an attacking opening batter who made his T20I debut in 2019 at age 17. He scored a century during his ODI debut in 2021 and has scored eight more since then. In 2024 Gurbaz finished as the top run scorer in that yearâs T20 World Cup, in which Afghanistan reached the semifinals for the first time.
- International career span: 2019â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, wicketkeeper
Mohammad Shahzad
Shahzad was Afghanistanâs wicketkeeper through most of the teamâs early years in international cricket. He was also a hard-hitting opening batter who belied fitness concerns to score more than 4,500 runs in ODIs and T20Is at a combined strike rate (average runs scored per 100 balls faced) of more than 100. In 2016, Shahzad became the first Afghan to be named the ICC Associate and Affiliate Cricketer of the Year.
- Full name: Mohammad Shahzad Mohammadi
- International career span: 2009â23
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, wicketkeeper
Asghar Afghan
Asghar Afghan scored more than 4,000 international runs for Afghanistan and ended his Test career with a mammoth score of 164 against Zimbabwe. But he is best remembered for his captaincy of the national team, leading in its first-ever Test match in 2018 and in 59 ODIs. His 42 wins in 52 T20I games have made him one of the formatâs most successful captains in history, with a higher winning percentage than Indian captains Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, who led different squads to win consecutive T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026, respectively.
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- Full name: Mohammad Asghar Afghan (also known as Asghar Stanikzai)
- International career span: 2009â21
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium bowler
Hashmatullah Shahidi
Hashmatullah Shahidi took over as the captain of the Afghan Test and ODI teams in 2021 after Asghar Afghanâs retirement and was in charge during its 2023 ODI World Cup campaign when the team beat England and Pakistan for the first time, and came close to defeating eventual champion Australia. Shahidi scored his countryâs first Test double century, an unbeaten 200, against Zimbabwe in 2021, and followed it up with a score of 246 against the same opposition in 2024.
- International career span: 2013â
- Playing style: Left-hand batter
Ibrahim Zadran
Zadran has scored 50 runs or more in more than a third of his ODI career innings; his consistency has helped Afghanistan to some memorable wins, including against Pakistan at the 2023 ODI World Cup. His highest score of 177 helped the national team beat England in the 2025 Champions Trophy clash between the two sides. He was named Afghanistanâs new T20I captain in March 2026, replacing Rashid Khan.
- International career span: 2019â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter
Najibullah Zadran
Najibullah Zadran has played almost 200 international games for Afghanistan but is best known for his middle-order hitting in T20 leagues. He also served as vice captain of the T20I team for a few years.
- International career span: 2012â
- Playing style: Left-hand batter, right-arm off-spin bowler
Hazratullah Zazai
Zazai has not been a regular in the national team since 2022, because of a combination of injuries and personal troubles. But he has set the world alight with his scoring in the T20 format. His unbeaten 162 against Ireland in 2019, scored off only 62 balls and featuring 11 fours and 16 sixes, is among the highest individual scores in menâs T20Is. In 2018, during an Afghanistan Premier League T20 game, he scored 62 off only 17 balls for the Kabul Zwanan, in the process reaching his 50 off 12 balls, a joint record at the time for the fastest half-century. During this innings, he also achieved the rare feat of hitting six sixes in an over.
- International career span: 2016â
- Playing style: Left-hand batter
Gulbadin Naib
Gulbadin Naib was an early member of the Afghanistan team that won the Division Five tournament in 2008, and after a brief period on the sidelines, he returned to the national team in 2011. He would go on to captain the side during the 2019 ODI World Cup, though Afghanistan ended the tournament winless. Naibâs four wickets played a key role in Afghanistanâs first-ever win against Australia at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Naib is also known for his trademark bicep-flexing celebration, especially when he takes a wicket.
- International career span: 2011â
- Playing style: Right-arm medium-fast bowler
Karim Janat
The younger brother of Asghar Afghan, Janat has represented Afghanistan in all three international formats but is considered a T20 specialist. Indeed, he was player of the match in his first T20I game against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as he took three wickets and scored 25 runs. Janat has also featured in multiple T20 leagues, though his IPL stint has been an unmemorable one; in his only game for the Gujarat Titans, he was mauled for 30 runs in his only over by Indian teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
- International career span: 2017â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium bowler
Naveen-ul-Haq
Naveen-ul-Haq has a stellar record in T20Is, taking a wicket about every 14 balls and averaging under 20 runs conceded per wicket. He started off as a death-bowling specialist, making him a popular pick in franchise leagues, but he also expanded his repertoire to be effective across match phases. He retired from ODIs after the 2023 ODI World Cup to focus on T20Is and his franchise career.
- Full name: Naveen-ul-Haq Murid
- International career span: 2016â
- Playing style: Right-arm medium-fast bowler
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Farooqi is a left-arm pace bowler who has led Afghanistanâs bowling attack since his debut. He has played franchise cricket around the world, including in the IPL for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Rajasthan Royals. Farooqi was the joint-highest wicket-taker at the 2024 T20 World Cup, with 17 wickets in eight games at an average of only 9.41.
- International career span: 2021â
- Playing style: Left-arm fast-medium bowler
Qais Ahmad
Qais Ahmad is a leg spinner who is known for both his striking ability with the ballâhe has more than 200 T20 wicketsâand his acrobatic celebrations at the fall of each wicket he takes. He has played in multiple leagues, though an IPL contract has so far eluded him.
- Full name: Qais Ahmad Kamawal
- International career span: 2019â
- Playing style: Right-arm leg-spin bowler
Dawlat Zadran
Dawlat Zadran is one of the genuinely fast Afghan bowlers; he was clocked at more than 90 mph (about 145 km/h) in 2014. While primarily known for his wicket-takingâhe has more than 150 international wickets for Afghanistan at a handy averageâhe is also a capable lower-order batter known for his six-hitting ability.
- International career span: 2011â19
- Playing style: Right-arm fast bowler, right-hand batter
Hamid Hassan
Hamid Hassanâs career was hampered by injuries, but he played a key role during Afghanistanâs rise to the top level of world cricket. His haul of 5 wickets for just 23 runs was central to an upset win against Ireland at the ODI World Cup qualifiers in 2009, and his bowling statistics in international cricket compare with the best.
- International career span: 2009â21
- Playing style: Right-arm fast bowler
Samiullah Shinwari
Samiullah Shinwari debuted in Afghanistanâs first-ever ODI with a half-century and struck 12 more in a long international career that yielded almost 3,000 runs and 74 wickets. Shinwari was a regular in the side until his 2022 retirement.
- International career span: 2009â22
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm leg-spin bowler
Rahmat Shah
Rahmat Shah is an old-school batter who has played only one T20I but is among Afghanistanâs mainstays in the ODI and Test formats, for which he was appointed the teamâs captain in July 2026. His twin 50s against Ireland in 2019 helped Afghanistan register a win in just its second Test, and he has since scored three Test centuries with a score of 234. He also has more than 4,000 ODI runs, and his part-time leg-spin bowling has also helped the team on occasion, such as when he took five wickets in an ODI in 2014.
- Full name: Rahmat Shah Zurmatai
- International career span: 2013â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm leg-spin bowler
Noor Ali Zadran
Noor Ali Zadran faced Afghanistanâs first ball in ODI cricket, scoring a quick 45 in 28 balls to set up Mohammad Nabiâs half-century in Afghanistanâs eventual win. He is also one of only a few male cricketers in the history of the game to have scored twin hundreds on their first-class debut, doing so against a Zimbabwe XI in 2009. Noor Ali Zadran is also the uncle of Afghan cricketers Mujeeb Zadran and Ibrahim Zadran.
- International career span: 2009â24
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium-fast bowler
Azmatullah Omarzai
A darling of the franchise leagues, Azmatullah Omarzai is a multifaceted all-rounder capable of changing his teamâs fortunes with bat or ball, and sometimes both. He has shown the ability to both bat long and finish innings well and can bowl in the powerplay as well as at the death. 2024 was a spectacular year for him in ODIs, when he averaged 52 with the bat and under 21 with the ball and was named the Menâs ODI Cricketer of the Year by the ICC.
- International career span: 2021â
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm medium-fast bowler
Amir Hamza
Amir Hamza is a left-arm spinner who took five wickets on his Test debut against the West Indies in 2019, finishing with six wickets in the game and scoring 35 runs. He has also been a part of the ODI and T20I squads, with a reasonable average and economy rate.
- Full name: Amir Hamza Hotak
- International career span: 2012â23
- Playing style: Left-arm orthodox bowler
Nawroz Mangal
Nawroz Mangal was one of Afghanistanâs early captains and was at the helm in the teamâs first official ODI in 2009. He scored two centuries for Afghanistan in ODIs, before retiring in 2017 and taking up the role of a national team selector.
- Full name: Nawroz Khan Mangal
- International career span: 2009â17
- Playing style: Right-hand batter, right-arm off-spin bowler