Karim Janat

Having the ability to consistently bowl at over 140 clicks and being a good pinch hitter down the order, Karim Janat is a bowling all-rounder who plays for the Afghanistan cricket team.

Janat is the younger brother of Afghanistan captain, Asghar Afghan, and he was part of the Afghanistan squad for the 2016 U-19 World Cup. 

The Kabul-born was the joint leading wicket-taker in the 2017 Ghazi Amanullah Regional One-Day Tournament, with 12 dismissals. 

The Afghan cricketer made his international debut in the T20I series against UAE in 2016. He made a name for himself in his debut match, scoring a brisk 25 and picking up 3 crucial wickets to propel Afghanistan past the victory line. For his all-round efforts, Janat was declared the 'Player of the Match'. 

A few months later, the all-rounder was selected in the Afghanistan squad for an ODI match against Zimbabwe. But unlike his T20I debut, Janat struggled to make a mark in his first ODI match, going wicketless and scoring 9 runs of 33 balls.

Arguably his best performance came in the shortest format of the game against West Indies in 2019. In the second T20I game, Janat replaced Fareed Ahmed in the playing XI and he justified his selection with a scintillating spell of pace bowling. He grabbed 5 for 11 in four overs to rattle the Windies. Chasing 148, West Indies could only manage to score 106 for the loss of 8 wickets.

He was included in the Afghanistan squad for the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Janat finished the series with 5 wickets to his name at an economy of fewer than 6 runs per over.

Clearly the future of the Afghanistan pace bowling attack, Janat has already made a name for himself in the short amount of time that he has spent at the international level. Despite bowling at a good pace, Janat clearly has to work on his line and length.

(As of Mar 2021)