Zahir Khan (Afghan cricketer)

Zahir Khan (Pashto: ظاهر خان; born 20 December 1998) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his Test match debut for Afghanistan in September 2019.[2] He made his first-class debut for Afghanistan against Papua New Guinea in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup on 21 November 2015.[3] He represented Afghanistan in the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.[4]

Zahir Khan
Personal information
Full name
Zahir Khan
Born (1998-12-20) 20 December 1998 (age 25)
Kabul, Afghanistan
NicknamePaheli[1]
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingLeft-arm unorthodox spin
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 17)5 September 2019 v Bangladesh
Last Test2 March 2021 v Zimbabwe
Only ODI (cap 47)10 March 2019 v Ireland
T20I debut (cap 49)19 February 2023 v United Arab Emirates
Last T20I7 October 2023 v India
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2017Band-e-Amir Region
2017–presentMis Ainak Region
2017Rangpur Riders
2018Lancashire
2018Nangarhar Leopards
2019Khulna Titans
2019Jamaica Tallawahs
2019Speenghar Region
2019/20Brisbane Heat
2020St Lucia Zouks
2020/21Melbourne Stars
2021Quetta Gladiators
2021/22Melbourne Renegades
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA T20
Matches 3 17 20 89
Runs scored 0 40 39 73
Batting average 0.00 3.33 4.87 4.29
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/0
Top score 0* 11* 15 19*
Balls bowled 336 2,494 1,050 1,907
Wickets 7 82 40 98
Bowling average 34.14 20.85 22.65 23.22
5 wickets in innings 0 4 1 1
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 3/105 6/52 6/36 5/19
Catches/stumpings 0/– 4/– 0/– 10/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 17 October 2023
Medal record
Representing  Afghanistan
Men's Cricket
Asian Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Hangzhou Team

Domestic career

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He made his List A debut for Band-e-Amir Region in the 2017 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament on 10 August 2017.[5] Along with Karim Janat, he was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with twelve dismissals.[6] He made his Twenty20 debut for Mis Ainak Knights in the 2017 Shpageeza Cricket League on 12 September 2017.[7]

In August 2018, he joined the English side Lancashire for the rest of the season.[8] He was the leading wicket-taker in the 2019 Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament, with thirty dismissals in five matches.[9]

T20 franchise career

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In September 2018, he was named in Nangarhar's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.[10] In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the Khulna Titans team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.[11]

In 2018 he signed for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League however he was ruled out of the season due to injury. He played for the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League in 2019 and he signed for the Brisbane Heat for the Big Bash League for the 2019-20 season and stated "“This is a very exciting thing for me, especially to be joining the team where my good friend Mujeeb played last year. He told me great things about Brisbane Heat, so I am looking forward to this challenge so much.”[12] He did not resign with the Heat for the following season, and head coach Darren Lehmann said the following regarding his time with the club: “On behalf of the club, we really wish Tom and Zahir all the best for what lies ahead with their cricket as they both have enormous potential. . . It was great to see them display their ability and we thoroughly enjoyed having them in the squad. We hope they got plenty out of the experience."[13]

He signed for the Melbourne Stars for the 2020-21 Big Bash season saying “I’m really looking forward to playing for the Stars during this BBL season. The squad is looking strong and I’d like to thank the club for giving me the chance to be part of it. Together I am sure we will build a successful season.”[14]

International career

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In December 2017, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.[15] In January 2018, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals in the 2018 IPL auction.[16][17] In December 2018, he was named in Afghanistan's under-23 team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.[18]

In May 2018, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for their inaugural Test match, played against India, but he was not selected for the match.[19][20]

In February 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) squads for their series against Ireland in India.[21][22] He made his ODI debut for Afghanistan against Ireland on 10 March 2019.[23] Following the conclusion of the ODI series, he was added to Afghanistan's Test squad, for the one-off match against Ireland, but he did not play.[24]

In August 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's Test squad for their one-off match against Bangladesh.[25][26] He made his Test debut for Afghanistan, in the one-off match against Bangladesh, on 5 September 2019.[27]

In May 2022, he was named as a reserve in Afghanistan's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Zimbabwe.[28] He made his T20I debut for Afghanistan against UAE on 19 February 2023.[29]

References

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  1. ^ "Keep calm and celebrate like a #Prince – The story behind Islamabad United nicknames". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Zahir Khan". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  3. ^ "ICC Intercontinental Cup, Afghanistan v Papua New Guinea at Sharjah, Nov 21-24, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Afghanistan U-19s Squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  5. ^ "1st Match, Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament at Khost, Aug 10, 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  6. ^ "2017 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament: Most Wickets". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  7. ^ "3rd Match, Shpageeza Cricket League at Kabul, Sep 12 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  8. ^ "Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan joins Lancashire". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  9. ^ "Records: Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament, 2019, Most wickets". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Afghanistan Premier League 2018 – All you need to know from the player draft". CricTracker. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  11. ^ "Full players list of the teams following Players Draft of BPL T20 2018-19". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  12. ^ "Mujeeb and Zahir Sign". BrisbaneHeat.com.au. 18 September 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  13. ^ "INTERNATIONALS WELCOMED". BrisbaneHeat.com.au. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  14. ^ "STARS CLINCH ZAHIR KHAN SIGNING". MelbourneStars.com.au. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Mujeeb Zadran in Afghanistan squad for Under-19 World Cup". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  16. ^ "List of sold and unsold players". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  17. ^ "U19 World Cup stars snapped up in IPL auction". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  18. ^ "Afghanistan Under-23s Squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  19. ^ "Afghanistan Squads for T20I Bangladesh Series and on-eoff India Test Announced". Afghanistan Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  20. ^ "Afghanistan pick four spinners for inaugural Test". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  21. ^ "Mujeeb left out for Ireland Test, Shahzad out of T20Is". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  22. ^ "No Mujeeb in Tests as Afghanistan announce squads for Ireland series". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  23. ^ "5th ODI (D/N), Ireland tour of India at Dehra Dun, Mar 10 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
  24. ^ "Afghanistan add Zahir Khan and Sayed Shirzad to Test squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  25. ^ "Afghanistan squads announced for Bangladesh Test and Triangular Series in September". Afghan Cricket Board. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  26. ^ "Rashid Khan to lead new-look Afghanistan in Bangladesh Test". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  27. ^ "Only Test, Afghanistan tour of Bangladesh at Chattogram, Sep 5-9 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  28. ^ "Afghanistan call up Zia-ur-Rehman Akbar for ODIs in Zimbabwe; Gulbadin dropped". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  29. ^ "3rd T20I, Abu Dhabi, February 19, 2023, Afghanistan tour of United Arab Emirates". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
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