England’s encounter with Afghanistan today come in light of the “crisis” that the defending champions were supposedly in after losing to the Kiwis. A crisis that lasted all of five days.
Similarly, what is never-ending for Afghanistan right now, is the presence of their veteran off-spinner Mohammad Nabi who will be playing in his 150th ODI for the Afghan side today.
#CWC23 | #ENGvsAFGAFG XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Live: https://t.co/jPK5RBTIME
— News18 CricketNext (@cricketnext) October 15, 2023
ICC World Cup : Schedule | Results | Points Table | Most Runs | Most Wickets
Nabi has been a pillar in Afghanistan cricket over the years. He made his ODI debut in 2009 against Scotland and has been a regular for the Afghans in all three formats of the game ever since. He has worked relentlessly to put Afghanistan on the cricketing map. Also, he is a potent all-rounder in limited-overs cricket.
The plethora of records Nabi holds in Afghanistan cricket history is endless and a constant reminder of the work he had put in to achieve his immortal status in the game.
Nabi became the second Afghanistan bowler to complete the landmark of 150 ODI wickets. Only Rashid Khan has reached this figure before him. The all-rounder is also the second-highest wicket-taker for Afghanistan in ODIs and is only behind Rashid, who has scalped 167 wickets in ODIs. The only other Afghanistan bowler to claim 100-plus wickets in this format is Dawlat Zadran (115).
Nabi is also a true all-rounder who has been effective with bat and ball. The 38-year-old has amassed 3,046 runs in 142 ODIs at an average of 27.44.
Nabi only became the second Afghan batter to score 3,000 runs in ODIs after Rahmat Shah (3,191), who leads the run tally for the Afghans in this format. He bacame just the 20th cricketer to own the ODI double of 3,000-plus runs and more than 150 wickets in this format.
Now, unfortunately enough, he might be at the back end of his career but is not exactly wearing his advancing years lightly. Scores of 6 and 19, aligned with 0 for 18 and 0 for 32 speak of a wider downturn in form. He has just one ODI half-century in his last 21 innings, a period that stretches over the last three years, and is averaging 39.70 with off-spin lacking its usual guile. At 38, his status as a trailblazing cricketer is secure, but some vintage Nabi would be a neat reminder of how he earned that status, and help Afghanistan avoid insult in the World Cup.
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