Afghanistan Legends Set To Retire From T20s If Not Picked In IPL 2025

Afghanistan players will be in big demand come the IPL 2025 mega auction. Their performance as a cricketing nation have improved by leaps and bounds despite all the political and social problems the country has endured in the recent past.

Cricket keeps the people of the country alive in many ways and thus, their players must regularly play in the IPL. Rashid Khan their senior statesman has played across all T20 leagues and has achieved paramount success in all of them.

Gradually the rest of the players have followed his footsteps and made their mark in various T20 leagues. Afghanistan made it to the semi-finals of the recently concluded T20 World Cup. They defeated some heavyweights and made some notable performances as well.

Afghanistan's recent success in the T20 World Cup will make the franchises monitor their players more keenly in the upcoming mega auction. In the meeting between the franchise owners and the BCCI, several pointers were discussed.

The BCCI said that they will review the suggestions and come out with a decision by the end of the month. In this article, we look at five Afghanistan players who can retire from T20 cricket if they are not picked in the auction.

Afghanistan Legends Set To Retire From T20s If Not Picked In IPL 2025

Mohammad Nabi

The former Afghanistan skipper will be 40 by the time the next UIPL season starts. He last represented Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 and played just a handful of games for the franchise. He played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad before joining Mumbai Indians.

He has played across T020 leagues all over the world but has not yet made any impactful performance in the IPL.

Nabi said that he is looking to play international cricket till the next T20 World Cup. But if he goes unsold in the next auction, he can think about retiring from IPL cricket.

Gulbadin Naib

DC picked up Gulbadin Naib as a replacement for Mitchell Marsh who had to go back home with a hamstring injury before the T20 World Cup. The all-rounder has played a lot of international cricket before making his IPL debut.

He is a good shorter format cricketer with good all-round skills. He recently made a few impactful performances in the T20 World Cup as well.

With teams looking for seam-bowling all-rounders in the upcoming auction, Naib can be a good option. However, he will compete with the top all-rounders in the world at the auction.

Ibrahim Zadran

WIth the majority of the teams looking sorted as of now with their opening combination, it will be difficult for someone like Zadran to make it through in the IPL 2025 mega auction. For teams who want a solid top-order opener, Zadran is the answer.

The team is looking for a revamp as well and this is where Zadran has a chance to be picked. He has been amongst the top scores in international cricket in 2024 as well.

Naveen-Ul-Haq

Naveen is currently with Lucknow Super Giants. It will be interesting to see whether they retain him. In his first two years with the franchise, Naveen has picked up 25 wickets in 18 matches for the franchise. He picked up 14 of them in 2024.

The Afghanistan pacer has retired from ODI cricket and only plays the T20I format as of now. He has also played across T20 leagues. In case, he is not picked up in the IPL, he can think about retiring from the format.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Mujeen was with KKR in IPL 024. However, he was ruled out with an injury concern. He made his IPL debut for Punjab Kings in IPL 2018 but since then has not featured in the league regularly.

In the IPL 2024 auction, KKR picked him up for his base price of 20 lakhs. However, he was ruled out with an injury as KKR named Allah Ghazanfar as his replacement who is also from Afghanistan.

If he ends up getting unsold in IPL 2025, it will be almost impossible for Mujeeb to make a comeback in the IPL.

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