Najibullah Zadran

A left-handed aggressive middle-order player who bowls right-arm off-break, Zadran represented Afghanistan in the 2011 U19 World Cup qualifier in Ireland.

Playing for Afghan Cheetahs, Zadran made a name for himself in the Faysal Bank T20 Cup. In the three innings of the competition, the left-hander scored just 58 runs, but it was his aggressive and free-flowing batting that caught the eyes of the national selectors.

The Logar-born was given a chance to represent Afghanistan in the ICC World Cricket League Championship held in 2012. Zadran made his ODI debut in the same tournament against Ireland and scored a quickfire 23 before being dismissed by Paul Stirling.

He took his time to settle at the international level and it wasn’t until 2014 that Zadran repaid the faith shown to him by the Afghan cricket board.

In an unofficial Test match against Zimbabwe A, the dynamic batter scored 99 in the second innings which helped Afghanistan to victory. Following the Zimbabwe series, Zadran scored an unbeaten 32-ball 60 and steered his side to victory against a strong Pakistan A team.

As a result, Zadran was drafted into the Afghanistan squad for the 2015 World Cup. He scored 123 runs in 6 innings, including a run-a-ball 56 against a strong New Zealand pace attack.

In 2018, Zadran was named the captain of the Afghanistan U23 squad for the Emerging Teams Asia Cup. The next year, the flamboyant left-handed batsman played in his second World Cup tournament held in England and Wales and this time around had a better showing with the bat, amassing 231 runs in eight matches of the tournament.

Zadran has been a stalwart for Afghan cricket for the past 9 years now. In his initial days, Zadran struggled at the international level, but with his hard work and determination, Zadran has made a name for himself in the Afghan ranks.

(As of Mar 2021)