Najibullah Zadran

Najibullah Zadran (Pashto: نجیب الله ځدراڼ; born 28 February 1993) is an Afghan cricketer and the vice captain of the Afghanistan Twenty20 International (T20I) side. Zadran is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm off breaks. He made his international debut in July 2012.^[1]

Najibullah Zadran

Personal information
Born	(1993-02-28) 28 February 1993 (age 31) Kabul, Afghanistan
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Middle-order batter
International information
National side	Afghanistan (2012-2024)
ODI debut (cap 27)	5 July 2012 v Ireland
Last ODI	11 October 2023 v India
ODI shirt no.	1
T20I debut (cap 21)	19 September 2012 v India
Last T20I	20 June 2024 v India
T20I shirt no.	1
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2017	Band-e-Amir Region
2017–2018/19	Chittagong Vikings
2018	Montreal Tigers
2018	Kandahar
2019–20	Khulna Tigers
2020	St Lucia Zouks (squad no. 10)
2021	Dambulla Giants
2021	Karachi Kings
2022	Barbados Royals
2022	Minister Dhaka
2022	Kandy Falcons
2023	Quetta Gladiators
2024	Chattogram Challengers
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA Matches 92 107 5 106 Runs scored 2,060 1,830 306 2,626 Batting average 39.01 29.51 30.60 32.02 100s/50s 1/15 0/8 0/3 1/21 Top score 104* 73 99 104* Balls bowled 30 – 156 316 Wickets 0 – 2 4 Bowling average – – 42.50 66.00 5 wickets in innings – – 0 0 10 wickets in match – – 0 0 Best bowling – – 1/12 1/10 Catches/stumpings 39/– 44/– 5/– 54/–
Source: Cricinfo, 20 June 2024

Career

T20 franchise career

On 3 June 2018, Zadran was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.^[2][3] In September 2018, he was named in Kandahar's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.^[4] The following month, he was named in the squad for the Chittagong Vikings team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.^[5]

In June 2019, Zadran was selected to play for the Winnipeg Hawks franchise team in the 2019 Global T20 Canada tournament.^[6] In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Khulna Tigers in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.^[7] In August 2020, he was named in the St Lucia Zouks squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League, replaced Colin Ingram who missing out the competition due to visa limitations.^[8]

Zadran was signed by Karachi Kings to play in the rescheduled matches in the 2021 Pakistan Super League.^[9] In November 2021, he was selected to play for the Dambulla Giants following the players' draft for the 2021 Lanka Premier League.^[10]

International career

Zadran represented Afghanistan Under-19s in the 2011 Under-19 World Cup Qualifier in Ireland.^[11] Zadran made his Twenty20 debut for the Afghan Cheetahs in the Faysal Bank Twenty-20 Cup against Rawalpindi Rams. He made two further appearances in that competition against Faisalabad Wolves and Multan Tigers.^[12] He scored 58 runs in this three appearances, at an average of 29.00, with a high score of 51 not out.^[13] This score came against Rawalpindi Rams, in a match in which he also claimed his maiden wicket when he dismissed Sohail Tanvir.^[14]

In December 2018, Zadran was named the captain of Afghanistan's under-23 team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.^[15] In March 2019, in the third ODI against Ireland, he scored his first ODI century.^[16]

Zadran was a member of Afghanistan's 15-man squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.^[17][18] In July 2021, Zadran was made vice-captain of the Afghanistan T20I team.^[19] In September 2021, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.^[20]

In May 2024, he was named in Afghanistan’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.^[21]

References

1. "Najibullah Zadran profile and biography, stats, records, averages, photos and videos". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
2. "Global T20 Canada: Complete Squads". SportsKeeda. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
3. "Global T20 Canada League – Full Squads announced". CricTracker. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
4. "Afghanistan Premier League 2018 – All you need to know from the player draft". CricTracker. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
5. "Full players list of the teams following Players Draft of BPL T20 2018-19". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
6. "Global T20 draft streamed live". Canada Cricket Online. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
7. "BPL draft: Tamim Iqbal to team up with coach Mohammad Salahuddin for Dhaka". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
8. "Squads confirmed for St. Lucia Zouks for CPL 2020". www.zouksonfire.com. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
9. "Lahore Qalandars bag Shakib Al Hasan, Quetta Gladiators sign Andre Russell". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
10. "Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews miss out on LPL drafts". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
11. "Other matches played by Najibullah Zadran". CricketArchive. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
12. "Twenty20 Matches played by Najibullah Zadaran". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
13. "Twenty20 Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Najibullah Zadaran". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
14. "Afghan Cheetas v Rawalpindi Rams, 2011/12 Faysal Bank T-20 Cup". CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
15. "Afghanistan Under-23s Squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
16. "3rd ODI: Najibullah Zadran's unbeaten century carries Afghanistan to 256/8". Cricket Country. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
17. "Hamid Hassan picked in Afghanistan's World Cup squad; Naib to captain". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
18. "Asghar Afghan included in Gulbadin Naib-led World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
19. "Rashid Khan named Afghanistan T20I captain". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
20. "Rashid Khan steps down as Afghanistan captain over team selection". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
21. "Afghanistan's squad for the ICC Men's T20I World Cup". ScoreWaves. Retrieved 7 June 2024.

External links

• Najibullah Zadran at ESPNcricinfo