I Would Love To Play For Mumbai Indians In The IPL, Says Shapoor Zadran

The gruelling regime of modern cricket has taken a toll on almost every player’s body especially the fast-bowlers and Afghanistan’s Shapoor Zadran is no different. The lanky pacer is serving Afghanistan cricket for close to a decade now.  Not surprisingly, he is not the fittest of cricketers any more

Known for his long hair, the pacer last played a first-class game in 2013.  And as a result, he has not been named in the Afghanistan squad for their historic Test against India in Bengaluru from June 14. For someone, who played in Afghanistan’s maiden World T20 and World Cup in 2010 and 2015 respectively, it is disappointing to miss out on the historic Test.

But the pacer has now moved on now and is solely concentrating on his performances in the shortest format of the game ever since his return from a long injury lay-off. He recently impressed in the T20I series against Bangladesh in Dehradun. Standing over 6 feet, he constantly clocked over 140 kmph. He played two of the three-matches and ended with three wickets. With his focus now clear, Zadran is now eyeing to make a mark in the franchise cricket across the globe.

In a recent interview, he expressed his desire of playing in the Indian Premier League. He also revealed that he wants to represent Mumbai Indians in the lucrative league.

“Every cricketer wants to play in the big leagues across the world and I have the same desire. I am confident of playing in the IPL and the Big Bash during the upcoming season,” Zadran told Indian Express.

“I would love to play for Mumbai Indians as they are my favourite team,” he added.

There are already three cricketers from Afghanistan playing in the IPL. The nation’s spin troika of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman played in this year’s edition.

Zadran is serving Afgh

Zadran further rued the injury that sidelined him for almost a year. However, he used that time to add more weapons to his arsenal.

“For one year I wasn’t in the team. Injuries hampered my progress. But I have developed several skills for T20’s during that period. I am focussing a lot on variations as well. But pace remains my primary weapon as batsmen find it difficult to negotiate,” Zadran said.