Teenage spin-bowling sensation Allah Ghazanfar will not be part of Afghanistan's 2025 Champions Trophy campaign. Here's why.
Afghanistan will get their tournament underway today (February 21), against South Africa in Karachi, but they will be without the services of Ghazanfar. The teenager first came to international attention when he played in the 2024 U19 World Cup, particularly impressing in Afghanistan's match against New Zealand where he returned figures of 3-29.
Also read: Why Afghanistan are Champions Trophy dark horses
From there, he made his international debut aged just 16 in Afghanistan's ODI series against Ireland in March last year. While he didn't pick up any wickets in his first two matches, he bowled economically and was included in the squad for Afghanistan's next series against South Africa. He took figures of 3-20 in the first match of that series, a historic win for Afghanistan.
He then took a six-for against Bangladesh later in the year, and a five-for against Zimbabwe in December. Ghazanfar also made his Test debut against Zimbabwe, taking four wickets in the game.
Starts the day with Afghanistan U19 and ends it playing for Team Abu Dhabi.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 2, 2024
Allah Ghazanfar, the 18-year-old Afghanistan spinner, switched between playing the U19 Asia Cup and the Abu Dhabi T10 League on the same day.
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Why is Allah Ghazanfar not in Afghanistan's Champions Trophy squad
Ghazanfar was initially named in Afghanistan's squad for the tournament, and was set to be part of their stellar group of spinners, consisting of Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi. However, he was ruled out of the tournament a week before it started due to a 'fracture in the L4 vertebra'.
The injury, which he picked up during Afghanistan's series in Zimbabwe, is set to sideline him for a minimum of four months. This means he will also be out of the IPL, after he bagged an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians in last year's auction. Compatriot Mujeeb Ur Rahman was announced as his replacement for MI last week. Coincidentally, Ghazanfar had been an injury replacement for Mujeeb at Kolkata Knight Riders in the last IPL season.
Ghazanfar was replaced in Afghanistan's Champions Trophy squad by Nangeyalia Kharote, who was originally on the list of reserves for the tournament.
Kharote has played seven ODIs and six T20Is for Afghanistan, the most recent of which was in the side's ODI series against Bangladesh. He was not included in Afghanistan's XI for their first match against South Africa, with Rashid, Ahmad and Nabi making up the spin attack.
Playing XIs, Afghanistan vs South Africa, Champions Trophy match No.3
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
South Africa: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tony de Zorzi, Temba Bavuma (c), Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi.
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