Mumbai Indians were allowed to name Mujeeb Ur Rahman as an injury replacement for Allah Ghazanfar for IPL 2025 despite his base price being 2.6 times more than his Afghanistan compatriot. Here's why.
Ghazanfar, who started his ODI career on a bright note, suffered "a fracture of the L4 vertebra" during Afghanistan’s tour of Zimbabwe last month, ruling him out for four months. He will now miss the Champions Trophy as well as the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League.
As a result, Ghazanfar, having bagged his maiden IPL contract at MI worth INR 4.80 core, was replaced by Mujeeb at his base price of INR 2 core. Mujeeb last played in the IPL in 2021, representing Sunrisers Hyderabad in a solitary fixture. He made his IPL debut at the age of 17 for Punjab Kings and played 18 matches for them across three seasons.
After being ignored in the mega-auction, Mujeeb, having spent five months on the sidelines due to a hand injury, would see the call-up as an opportunity to resurrect his IPL career. He was also omitted from Afghanistan's 2025 Champions Trophy squad as according to their interim chief selector Ahmad Suliman Khil, "he has been advised by his doctor to focus on T20s for a while to ensure his full recovery before returning to ODIs".
Afghanistan felled three previous winners in the 2023 World Cup, marking their coming of age tournament since they first competed in 2010.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) February 17, 2025
But the Champions Trophy could see them mount a realistic charge for even higher honours, writes Atri Sanfui.
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What's the injury replacement rule in IPL 2025?
To start with, teams can seek injury replacements till up to the 12th match in the league phase. Till IPL 2024, that was allowed up to the seventh match of the season. Arguably more importantly, the new player's base price should be lower than the price at which the injured player was sold in the auction.
One perception around this rule has been that it has undergone a change in recent years, with only those players allowed as replacements who had base prices lower than or equal to that of the replaced player previously. However, that is not the case. Even during the second IPL season, back in 2009, IPL had issued a press release allowing franchises "to recruit a replacement outside of the auction, at a player fee no more than that of the replaced player", as quoted by News 18, with no capping on the base price.
Instances of a replacement player having a higher base price than the player they have replaced are rare, but not non-existent. Liam Plunkett came in place of an injured Kagiso Rabada at Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) in 2018. Plunkett, who went unsold with a base price of INR 2 crore in the auction replaced Rabada, whose base price was set a INR 1.50 crore. Since the South Africa pacer was sold for INR 4.2 crore, the swap was allowed.
In Mumbai Indians' case, though Ghazanfar had a base price of INR 75 lakh, his services were acquired for INR 4.80 core at the auction, which is lower than Mujeeb's base price of INR 2 crore.
Mujeeb, 23, has claimed 275 wickets in 256 T20 games, boasting an economy rate of 6.75. His success has made him a valuable asset for numerous franchises across the globe, such as Northern Superchargers, Melbourne Renegades, Peshawar Zalmi, Gulf Giants, Galle Marvels, and Paarl Royals.
