Mujeeb ur Rahman

Mujeeb ur Rahman, who was earlier known as Mujeeb Zadran, is one of the leading spinners of the Afghanistan cricket team along with Rashid Khan. Born on March 28, 2001, he was the first male to play international cricket and was born in the 21st century when he made his debut in December 2017. 

Rahman has been a vital cog in the Afghani bowling attack and has the experience of playing franchise leagues across the world. With variations under his belt, he is a proven match-winner in the T20 format.

Mujeeb ur Rahman: Along the Years

Mujeeb ur Rahman Records

• Youngest bowler to take a five-wicket haul in ODIs (16 years and 325 days)

• Joint-highest wicket-taker in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers 2018 along with Rashid Khan and Safyaan Sharif

• Second-youngest cricketer to play in the IPL (17 years and 11 days) after Prayas Ray Barman (RCB)

• One of the eleven players to take part in Afghanistan’s historic first-ever Test match against India in 2018

• First player born in the 21st century to play Test cricket

• Youngest player to feature in Afghanistan’s inaugural Test match (17 years and 78 days) 

• First bowler to take a five-wicket haul on T20 World Cup debut (against Scotland in ICC T20 World Cup 2021) 

• First and only Afghanistani bowler to take a five-wicket haul in T20 World Cups

• Third-highest wicket-taker for Afghanistan in international cricket after Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi

Mujeeb ur Rahman Awards and Accolades

• Player of the Tournament in ACC Under-19 Asia Cup 2017

Mujeeb ur Rahman's Career

Mujeeb ur Rahman started his career very young and has so many years of cricket left in him. He has flourished as a mystery spinner in T20 cricket.

Mujeeb ur Rahman Domestic Career

Mujeeb ur Rahman made his List A debut for the Speen Ghar Region in the 2017 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One-Day Tournament on 10 August 2017. From there, he has represented multiple T20 teams around the world.

Rahman was part of an Afghanistan Under-19 side that clinically dismantled Bangladesh 3-1 in their den. Bowling predominantly with the new ball, Mujeeb, who picked up eight wickets in the first three games of that series, nearly doubled his tally during a nine-over spell in which he took 7 for 19, the joint second-best best bowling figures in all Youth ODIs. This performance was all the more spectacular as it helped Afghanistan defend 133. Mujeeb went on to pick up 17 wickets in the series, the most by a bowler in a bilateral Youth ODI series. In May 2018, he was signed by Hampshire County Cricket Club to play in the 2018 T20 Blast tournament in England. In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament. He was the joint-leading wicket-taker for the Nangarhar Leopards in the game, with twelve dismissals in nine matches.

Rahman has also played for Comilla Victorians (Bangladesh Premier League), Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades (Big Bash League), Middlesex (Vitality T20 Blast), Jamaica Tallawahs (Caribbean Premier League), and Peshawar Zalmi (Pakistan Super League).

Mujeeb ur Rahman IPL Career

In 2018, Mujeeb ur Rahman became the youngest player to play in the Indian Premier League, when he plied his trade for the Kings XI Punjab. He was one of their best bowlers this year and played a huge role in their success in the first half of the tournament. Unfortunately, he injured himself towards the end of the tournament and he wasn't able to participate in KXIP's final few games. He played in 11 matches and took 14 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.99. His delivery to dismiss Virat Kohli early on in the tournament is still remembered by fans as one of the most magical deliveries of that season of IPL. He didn’t have a memorable 2019 season as he picked up only three wickets from five games but was still retained by the franchise for the 2020 season.

The spin bowler got to play just two games under the KL Rahul-led team for the 2020 season in UAE. He failed to pick a wicket and conceded 83 runs in those two games. The spin bowler was released by PBKS ahead of IPL 2021. He joined Sunrisers Hyderabad that year after being picked by the franchise for INR 1.5 crore, however, he played just one match in the tournament.

Mujeeb went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction as none of the 10 franchises showed interest in him. After a three-year gap, he was slated to play for the Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2024 when they bought him for INR 2 crores, but injury ruled him out of the tournament.

Mujeeb ur Rahman International Career

Mujeeb ur Rahman has been a pillar of Afghanistan’s spin attack and has recently upped the ante with the bat as well.

Mujeeb ur Rahman ODI Career

Mujeeb ur Rahman played a huge role in Afghanistan's success at the ICC World Cup Qualifying tournament in 2018 after making his ODI debut against Ireland a year earlier in 2017. He picked up four wickets in the final against the West Indies, which helped them win the match as well.

In the early part of his international career, Rahman formed a formidable spin attack alongside Rashid Khan and Zahir Khan in the young and talented Afghanistan team. On February 16, 2018, Mujeeb claimed his maiden ODI five-wicket haul against Zimbabwe in Sharjah.[24] He became the youngest player ever to take an ODI five-wicket haul and was named the ‘player of the match.’

A month later in March, Mujeeb registered another impressive figure against West Indies (4/43) where he got the likes of Chris Gayle and Rovman Powell among the big wickets.

Mujeeb was part of Afghanistan's 2019 World Cup squad under the captaincy of Gulbadin Naib. He played seven matches in the marquee event and scalped seven wickets at an average of 37 and an economy of 4.48. His best match figures in the World Cup were 3/39 against Bangladesh.

In January 2022, the Afghanistan off-spinner recorded 4 for 32 from 9.4 overs against the Netherlands in the second ODI in Doha. He finished the three-match series with seven wickets at 14.29. He was part of the ICC Cricket World Cup held in India and picked up 8 wickets in 9 matches.

Mujeeb ur Rahman Test Career

Mujeeb ur Rahman was named in Afghanistan's squad for their historic first-ever Test match versus India at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru from June 14-18 in 2018 and that remains his only Test appearance so far. 

Rahman was the youngest player to feature in the inaugural Test match from Afghanistan and was the first player from the 21st century to play a Test. He picked up a solitary wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara.

Mujeeb ur Rahman T20I Career

Mujeeb ur Rahman made his debut in T20 Internationals on February 5, 2018, against Zimbabwe in Sharjah. He didn't pick any wickets in his first match but Afghanistan went on to win the game by five wickets. Rahman castled Zimbabwe opener Solomon Mire to register his maiden wicket in T20I cricket and followed up with senior player Hamilton Masakadza's dismissal to return with 2/21 from four overs.

In September 2019, Rahman picked 4 for 15 from four overs against Bangladesh in a tri-series match in Dhaka. Afghanistan defended 164 as Mujeeb fired them up to a 25-run victory.

Rahman was named in Afghanistan's 15-member squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE. Playing in his first match against Scotland, Rahman routed the opposition with his wily variations to record career-best figures of 5/20 as Scotland were bundled up for 60.

Rahman endured an injury in the middle of the tournament and missed a couple of games against Namibia and India. He returned to the team against New Zealand in their final group stage match and picked the wicket of Daryl Mitchell although they lost by eight wickets and that was the end of their journey in the tournament.

In Asia Cup 2022, Rahman picked seven wickets in the tournament at an average of 15.86 and an economy of 5.55 with the best performance against Bangladesh - 3/16. Rahman was named in the national team's squad for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.

He was drafted into Afghanistan’s squad to play in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 but had to be ruled out as he suffered an injury in the index finger before the Super Eight.

Mujeeb ur Rahman's Under-19 Career

Mujeeb ur Rahman was part of the victorious Afghanistan squad that won the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup in 2017 and was named the ‘Player of the Tournament’ for picking up 12 wickets in 3 innings. 

He was also part of the Afghanistan squad that played in the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2018.

Mujeeb ur Rahman's Family

Mujeeb ur Rahman is the nephew of famous Afghan cricketer Noor Ali Zadran. When he was just 3 months old, he lost his father. He speaks the ‘Pashto’ language and his coach translates it.

Mujeeb ur Rahman's Net Worth

As of 2024, Mujeeb ur Rahman has an estimated net worth of USD 5 million.