The 16-year-old Mujeeb Zadran has created a few ripples with his debut in ODIs. In Mujeeb, Afghanistan have found another promising spinner who can very well help them move up the ladder in international cricket. Born on March 28, 2001, Mujeeb entered the history books by just making his debut as he became the first male cricketer born in the 21st century to play international cricket. He is the also the youngest cricketer to play international cricket for Afghanistan and 9th youngest overall.
The off-spinner made the match memorable too by taking four wickets against Ireland in the first ODI at Sharjah. He formed a formidable pair of spin bowling with Rashid Khan. While Mujeeb bowled a dream spell of 4 for 24, Rashid too ended up with bowling figures of 3 for 28. Together the spin duo made scoring a modest target of 239 seem like a mammoth task.
For a game-changing spell, Mujeeb also entered the record books by entering the elite list of players who bagged the ‘Man of the Match’ award on debut. For Afghanistan, only two players, Mohammad Nabi and Usman Ghani have been adjudged ‘Man of the Match’ on debut.
Ireland players got stuck in Mujeeb-Rashid’s spin web as they got bundled out for 100 with 18.2 overs left to play. On the other hand, Rashid did not just do well with the ball, he scored a crucial 48 runs from 49 balls with the bat down the order, helping his team post a fighting total. His innings was studded with 4 fours and 1 six.
Here’s the video of Mujeeb’s spell –
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Mujeeb came into limelight by bagging a five-wicket haul in the Under-19 Asia Cup final against Pakistan. He took a 6-fer against Malaysia too in the same tournament.
The 16-year-old has played in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2017 too. He was signed by Comilla Victorians right after his match-winning spell in the final. On his BPL debut, Mujeeb did not take a wicket but managed to bowl an economical spell giving just 17 runs in his spell of 4 overs. If he continues to perform like this, he might have an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract coming his way in 2018.
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