Mohammad Nabi

Mohammad was part of Afghanistan's "staggering" rise from Division Five of the World Cricket League to One Day International status.[8] This began in the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five, which Afghanistan won.[15] Nabi played in all seven of Afghanistan's matches for the tournament, scoring 108 runs and taking 10 wickets, the second-most for Afghanistan in each.[16] This success was followed by the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four, which Afghanistan also won.[17] Nabi was named the man of the tournament,[18] having taken 14 wickets at an average of 5.35 and scored 154 runs at an average of 25.66.[19]

Nabi was also in Afghanistan's team for the 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, which they won to progress to the 2009 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.[20] Though Afghanistan did not qualify for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, they did achieve One Day International (ODI) status, and their final match of the tournament, the fifth-place play-off against Scotland, was the country's first ever ODI. Nabi scored 58 to get his maiden ODI half-century on his ODI debut, a match which Afghanistan won. He was named player of the match.[21][22]

Nabi played his first first-class match for Afghanistan in the 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup against a Zimbabwe XI, scoring a century and taking 3/90 in the first innings.[23][24] He continued to be an important part of Afghanistan's team in the Intercontinental Cup, and also played a crucial role for the team in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier,[25] through which Afghanistan qualified for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.

Having been a consistent performer for Afghanistan and vice-captain under Nawroz Mangal's captaincy, when Mangal was removed from the captaincy ahead of the 2010 Asian Games, Nabi was appointed Afghanistan'a captain. Afghanistan.[26] Afghanistan finished the Asian Games runners-up after losing the final to Bangladesh, and Nabi didn't remain captain after the games.[27]

In March 2013, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced that Nabi would lead the national side in the ICC Intercontinental Cup in the UAE, after Nawroz Mangal was stripped of the captaincy following his dismal show in the limited-over series in Pakistan the previous month.[27] Under his captaincy, Afghanistan went to the 2014 Asia Cup, their first ever major international ODI tournament.[28] During the tournament they defeated Bangladesh in just their fourth match against a Test nation.[29] Nabi remained captain through the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, but due to poor form and Afghanistan only winning one match in the World Cup, he resigned as captain in April 2015.[30]

Nabi's poor form continued after resigning the captaincy until Afghanistan's bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe. During the series, Afghanistan's new coach Inzamam-ul-Haq promoted Nabi up the batting order from number 6 to number 3 and his batting improved dramatically, scoring his maiden ODI century and 223 runs during the series to be named the player of the series. Afghanistan won the series 3–2, the first time an associate team had ever beaten a full member in a bilateral series.[31]

Nabi took on major responsibility in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 to help Afghanistan win against Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in the group stage. Nabi was the man of the match in both these matches and Afghanistan advanced to the Super 10 round.[32][33] Nabi performed strongly in Afghanistan's match against England as they almost caused a major upset. Nabi took a catch, took a wicket bowling and effected a run-out during the match but England hung on to win by 15 runs.[34]

In May 2018, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for their inaugural Test match, played against India.[35][36] He made his Test debut for Afghanistan, against India, on 14 June 2018.[37] In February 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's Test squad for their one-off match against Ireland in India.[38][39] In 2019, in first T20I against Ireland he won the man of the match for his 49 runs and 2 wickets.[40] Again in series's 3rd T20I as well, Nabi scored an 81 and bowled an economical spell of 0-28(4) to win the man of the match and series.[41]

In April 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[42][43] On 29 June 2019, in the match against Pakistan, Nabi took his 200th wicket in international cricket.[44] He finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker for Afghanistan, with ten dismissals in nine matches.[45]

During the one-off Test match against Bangladesh, he announced his retirement from Test cricket to focus on white-ball cricket.[46]

Nabi played in the Bangladesh Premier League for the first time in 2013 for the Sylhet Royals. He was brought into the side to replace injured West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell as the team's coach Mohammad Salahuddin wanted an offspinner in the team. He performed well for the Royals with both bat and ball, particularly bowling well at the start of innings, and he finished the tournament as the team's leading wicket-taker with 18 wickets.[47][48]

Nabi was drafted by the Rangpur Riders for the 2015 edition of the tournament,[49] in which he took seven wickets and scored 37 runs. He was then signed for the 2016 tournament by the Chittagong Vikings.[50] He had considerable success, taking 19 wickets, the most for Chittagong and the third-most across the whole tournament,[51] and scoring his maiden BPL half-century and career-highest score with 87 not out in a match against the Rajshahi Kings.[52] He changed teams to the Comilla Victorians for the 2017 tournament.[53] In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Rangpur Rangers in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.[54]

Nabi played for the Quetta Gladiators in the 2016 Pakistan Super League, the inaugural season of the tournament. He played eight matches for the Gladiators, and in his final match for the tournament against Lahore Qalandars he scored 30 runs off of 12 balls, including hitting 4 runs off the final ball of the match to win the game for the Gladiators.[55] Nabi left the tournament early to play for Afghanistan in the 2016 Asia Cup Qualifier and was replaced in the side by Nathan McCullum.[56]

In the 2017 IPL auction, Nabi became the first Afghan player to be sold in the IPL, going to Sunrisers Hyderabad at his base price of 30 lakh. He had been the third player from Afghanistan to go up in the 2017 auction, but the first two both went unsold. He was followed by Afghan teammate Rashid Khan, who also went to Hyderabad.[57][58] Nabi only played three matches in the 2017 tournament.[59] In January 2018, Nabi was again bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL auction, this time for 1 crore,[60] but he still only played two matches.[61]

In September 2018, he was named in Balkh's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.[62]

Nabi played for Leicestershire County Cricket Club in the 2018 t20 Blast.[63] In a match against Lancashire he scored 86 runs from 32 balls to help secure a five wicket victory for the side.[64] In February 2019, he signed to play for Kent County Cricket Club in the 2019 edition of the competition.[65] In November 2019, he once again signed to play for Kent, for the 2020 t20 Blast in England.[66]

Nabi played for the Melbourne Renegades in the 2017–18 and 2018–19 Big Bash League seasons. In December 2018 he hit the winning runs against the defending champions Adelaide Strikers after a 94 run unbeaten partnership with Dan Christian.[67]

In July 2020, he was named in the St Lucia Zouks squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League.[68][69] On 27 August 2020, in the match against the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, Nabi took his first five-wicket haul in a T20 match.[70]