Mujeeb Zadran

Mujeeb Zadran Biography

Mujeeb Zadran is a young and bubbly Afghan cricketer who has impressed many with his guile and technique. He is a right arm off break spinner and a right-hand batsman.

He grabbed the cricketing headlines when he became the first person born in 21st century to play an ODI. Having put decent performances, he is expected to establish a dangerous spin duo with Rashid Khan.

Background

Zadran was born on 28 March 2001 in Khost, Afghanistan. He took up cricket in the domestic level at the age of 16 when he played for Speen Ghar Region against Band-e Amir region in 2017.

His dexterity with the ball and accurate googlies has drawn comparisons with Rashid Khan and he is expected to be the next big thing. He is the nephew of Noor Ali Zadran, who has also represented Afghanistan.

Debut

He gained the distinction of being the first player of 21st century to play for a national team when he made his ODI debut against Ireland at Sharjah on December 2017.

He made an impactful debut, by taking 4 wickets in the match and was rightly judged the Man of the Match.

He made his T20 international debut against Zimbabwe in February 2018 and bowled a tight spell in a winning cause.

Rise to Glory

Mujeeb had a taste of international spotlight when he performed exceedingly well on his debut. He followed it up with fine performances in domestic circuit which led to a call up in the shortest format.

He also represented Afghanistan in the recently concluded U19 Cricket World Cup. He justified the hype by proving his worth in the quarter finals against New Zealand colts where he took 4 wickets to lead the Afghans to an unprecedented semifinal.

Australia was too tough to overpower and Afghanistan bowed out with heads held high. Mujeeb picked 6 wickets in the 5 matches played with an outstanding overall economy of 3.54.

Club Career

Mujeeb started his domestic cricket playing for Speen Ghar region but played for Boost Defenders in the Shpageeza Cricket League.

Comilla Victorians drafted young Mujeeb in their team for the 2017 BPL although he played a solitary match in the tournament.

He hit the jackpot in the 2018 IPL auctions when Kings XI Punjab splurged 4 crores to buy him after an intense bidding. He became the third Afghan player to feature in an IPL team after Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan.