Mohammad Nabi

Mohammad Nabi

Mohammad Nabi has been the guiding hand that steered Afghanistan cricket from obscurity to the big stage. When he first turned out for Afghanistan in 2008, they were battling it out in Division Five of the World Cricket League. Within a decade, he had become one of the central figures in a team that earned Test status in 2017 and went on to reach a T20 World Cup semi-final in 2023.

Nabi was born into a well-to-do family that fled Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion and settled in Peshawar, where he first picked up a cricket bat at the age of 10. Tennis-ball cricket sharpened his game, and he eventually began formal training at Arshad Khan's academy. By 2003, he was playing in Pakistan's Cornelius Trophy, scoring a half-century on debut. He caught Mike Gatting's eye with a century against a visiting MCC side touring India, and was drafted into MCC's Young Cricketers' Programme, for whom he made his first-class debut.

Nabi would go on to become a lynchpin in Afghanistan's early surge. He scored 58 on his ODI debut against Scotland in 2009, and struck a century in his maiden first-class appearance for Afghanistan, against a Zimbabwe XI, during their rapid climb through the ranks. His blend of attacking middle-order batting and wily offspin made him a reliable allrounder and often a match-winner.

Nabi represented Afghanistan in over 300 white-ball internationals. He led the side in three T20 World Cups, in 2014, 2021 and 2022, and in the 2015 ODI World Cup. In 2019, he took his 200th international wicket during a high-voltage World Cup clash against Pakistan and in 2024, he was part of Afghanistan's historic run to the T20 World Cup semi-finals.

Nabi played Afghanistan's maiden Test, in 2018 against India, and featured in their first two Test wins, against Ireland and Bangladesh in 2019 but called time on his red-ball career to refocus his energies on limited-overs cricket. Over the course of his 16-year international career, he evolved into a powerful finisher, retaining his place in the XI while also captaining the team on and off. In 2024, when Afghanistan stunned Australia in the T20 World Cup, Australia became the 45th international side Nabi had won a game against. He remains the first Afghanistan player to feature in 100 ODIs and the first to take 100 wickets in the format.

He was also one of Afghanistan's first exports to franchise cricket, and his impact was foundational in paving the way for other Afghans into leagues. He debuted in the IPL alongside Rashid Khan in 2017, having already had stints in the PSL, BPL and BBL. He also turned out in the CPL, T20 Blast and The Hundred.

Nabi announced he would retire after the 2025 Champions Trophy, only to walk back that decision, driven by the dream of playing alongside his son Hassan Eisakhil, a top-order batter with early promise in T20s.