Mujeeb UrRahman

One of the finest cricket prodigies from Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman came into the limelight on the back of his talent to produce mystery balls. The rookie spinner rose through the ranks by wicking up 17 wickets in a series against Bangladesh that helped Afghanistan clinch the series by 3-1 in the hosts’ own backyard. In one of the matches of that series, Mujeeb took 7/19 while defending only 133 runs.

Mujeeb was part of the historic Afghanistan squad for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup. The right-arm off spinner was instrumental in Afghanistan’s march to the semifinal of the tournament. His best performance came in the crucial quarter-final clash against New Zealand, where he picked up four wickets to knock the Kiwis out of the tournament. 

In the same year, Mujeeb was selected in Afghanistan’s team to play their inaugural Test match against India. He became the sixth player and first Afghanistan cricketer to make his first class debut in a Test match.

His talents were recognised by the Kings XI Punjab in the IPL 2018 auction and the franchise bought him for INR 4 crore. The kind of money that was invested on him and the pressure of that enormous expectation could not weigh him down and the 17-year-old lad from Afghanistan only enhanced his reputation picking 14 wickets at an economy rate less than 7 runs per over.

He had an average IPL 2020, as he played only two matches and couldn’t take a single wicket.

Ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, Mujeeb was released by the franchise, but was eventually roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 1.50 crore. 

Mujeeb can bowl off spin and has the ability to mix it up with ripping googlies and it makes him a potent weapon in the shorter formats of the game. Mujeeb has formed a great spin bowling partnership alongside Rashid Khan, as the duo have the ability to torment any batsmen in the world, especially in the shorter formats of the game.

(As of March 21)