Born in a refugee camp, Mohammad Nabi took up cricket at the age of 10 while living in such a camp in Peshawar. After honing his skills with endless sessions of tennis-ball cricket, he managed to begin training at Arshad Khan's academy in Peshawar and on a tour of India caught Mike Gatting's eye with a century against a visiting MCC side. That brought him more valuable experience with MCC, for whom he made his first-class debut, and he went on to play a major role in Afghanistan's progress to the World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa in 2009. Nabi struck 58 against Scotland on one-day international debut and 102 in his first first-class game for Afghanistan, against a Zimbabwe XI. An offspinning allrounder, Nabi was the leading wicket-taker at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in 2010, picking up 13 wickets at 10.53 to play an important role in Afghanistan's success in the tournament.
Liam Brickhill March 2010