Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil (Pashto: محمد نبي عیسی خېل; born 1 January 1985[a]) is an Afghan cricketer and former captain of the Afghanistan national cricket team. Nabi is an attacking batting all-rounder, playing as a right-handed batsman and off-break bowler.[6]
He played a major role in Afghanistan's rise to the top level of international cricket, playing in both their first One Day International in April 2009 and their first Test match in June 2018. He was also part of Afghanistan's first T20I team which played against Ireland on 1 February 2010 and became the fifth cap of Afghanistan national team in Twenty20 Internationals. Nabi was also part of Afghanistan's first T20 World Cup team which played the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.[7] He captained the side during their appearances in the 2014 Asia Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Nabi has also played in numerous Twenty20 franchise tournaments and was the first player from Afghanistan to be selected in the Indian Premier League player auction. As of June 2024, Nabi holds a unique record of having been an integral part of Afghanistan side in defeating 45 different nations in across all international cricket.[8]
Nabi was born in Logar Province in Afghanistan to an Isa Khel sub tribe of Ahmadzai (Ghilji) a prosperous industrialist family, but his family moved to Peshawar in Pakistan, fleeing from the Soviet–Afghan War.[11][12] He started playing cricket in Peshawar at the age of 10,[11] and his family moved back to Afghanistan in 2000, where he began playing cricket with Mohammad Shahzad, Asghar Afghan and Shapoor Zadran, all of whom would later become important members of the Afghan national team.[13] Nabi played his first competitive match in 2003 for an Afghanistan team against the Rahim Yar Khan Cricket Association. Afghanistan's team was poor, but Nabi top-scored for the team with 61 runs.[12][14] During this time Afghanistan didn't have their own cricket gear and had to rely on buying it from Pakistan and India.[13]
In 2006, Nabi played for Afghanistan in a tour match against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Mumbai, India. He top-scored for Afghanistan with 116 in a big win,[15] and was noticed by former English Test captain Mike Gatting.[11] Nabi was then included in the MCC's Young Cricketers programme in England.[16] While with the MCC Nabi made his first-class debut in a tour match against Sri Lanka A in 2007, top-scoring for his team in the first innings with 43 runs.[16] Following this he played domestic cricket in Pakistan for Pakistan Customs,[17] making his List A debut against National Bank of Pakistan on 20 March 2008 during the ABN-AMRO Cup.[18]
International career
Afghanistan's rise to ODI status (2008–2009)
Mohammad was part of Afghanistan's "staggering" rise from Division Five of the World Cricket League to One Day International status.[11] This began in the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five, which Afghanistan won.[19] Nabi played in all seven of Afghanistan's matches for the tournament, scoring 108 runs and taking 10 wickets, the second-most for Afghanistan in each.[20] This success was followed by the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four, which Afghanistan also won.[21] Nabi was named the man of the tournament,[22] having taken 14 wickets at an average of 5.35 and scored 154 runs at an average of 25.66.[23]
Having been a consistent performer for Afghanistan and vice-captain under Nawroz Mangal's captaincy, when Mangal was removed from the captaincy ahead of the 2010 Asian Games, Nabi was appointed Afghanistan's captain.[30] Afghanistan finished the Asian Games runners-up after losing the final to Bangladesh, and Nabi didn't remain captain after the games.[31]
Captaincy (2013–2015)
In March 2013, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced that Nabi would lead the national side in the ICC Intercontinental Cup in the UAE, after Nawroz Mangal was stripped of the captaincy following his dismal show in the limited-over series in Pakistan the previous month.[31] Under his captaincy, Afghanistan went to the 2014 Asia Cup, their first ever major international ODI tournament.[32] During the tournament they defeated Bangladesh in just their fourth match against a Test nation.[33] Nabi remained captain through the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, but due to poor form and Afghanistan only winning one match in the World Cup, he resigned as captain in April 2015.[34]
Post-captaincy (2015–onwards)
Nabi's poor form continued after resigning the captaincy until Afghanistan's bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe. During the series, Afghanistan's new coach Inzamam-ul-Haq promoted Nabi up the batting order from number 6 to number 3 and his batting improved dramatically, scoring his maiden ODI century and 223 runs during the series to be named the player of the series. Afghanistan won the series 3–2, the first time an associate team had ever beaten a full member in a bilateral series.[35]
Nabi took on major responsibility in the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 to help Afghanistan win against Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in the group stage. Nabi was the man of the match in both these matches and Afghanistan advanced to the Super 10 round.[36][37] Nabi performed strongly in Afghanistan's match against England as they almost caused a major upset. Nabi took a catch, took a wicket bowling and effected a run-out during the match but England hung on to win by 15 runs.[38]
In May 2018, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for their inaugural Test match, played against India.[39][40] He made his Test debut for Afghanistan, against India, on 14 June 2018.[41] In February 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's Test squad for their one-off match against Ireland in India.[42][43] In 2019, in first T20Iagainst Ireland he won the man of the match for his 49 runs and 2 wickets.[44] Again in the 3rd T20I as well, Nabi scored an 81 and bowled an economical spell of 0-28(4) to win the man of the match and series.[45]
In April 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.[46][47] On 29 June 2019, in the match against Pakistan, Nabi took his 200th wicket in international cricket.[48] He finished the tournament as the leading wicket-taker for Afghanistan, with ten dismissals in nine matches.[49]
He stepped down from captaincy following the conclusion of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup due to disagreements with the team management and frustration with the team preparation.[52] His poor performance also got himself dropped from Afghanistan's T20I squad for their series against UAE.[53] However, in March 2023, he returned to the T20I squad for the series against Pakistan.[54] On 24 March 2023, in the first T20I, he scored 38 runs from 38 balls, and picked up 2 wickets for 12 runs.[55] His all-round performance helped Afghanistan to clinch first ever win over Pakistan in any format of international cricket.[56]
Nabi played in the Bangladesh Premier League for the first time in 2013 for the Sylhet Royals. He was brought into the side to replace injured West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell as the team's coach Mohammad Salahuddin wanted an offspinner in the team. He performed well for the Royals with both bat and ball, particularly bowling well at the start of innings, and he finished the tournament as the team's leading wicket-taker with 18 wickets.[59][60]
In the 2017 IPL auction, Nabi became the first Afghan player to be sold in the IPL, going to Sunrisers Hyderabad at his base price of 30 lakh. He had been the third player from Afghanistan to go up in the 2017 auction, but the first two both went unsold. He was followed by Afghan teammate Rashid Khan, who also went to Hyderabad.[71][72] Nabi only played three matches in the 2017 tournament.[73] In January 2018, Nabi was again bought by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL auction, this time for 1 crore,[74] but he still only played two matches.[75] In February 2022, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.[76]
In August 2018, during Afghanistan's tour of Ireland, he became the first cricketer for Afghanistan to play in 100 ODI matches.[88] It was also the 100th ODI to be played by the Afghanistan cricket team.[88]
Nabi has involved in part of Afghanistan's wins at international cricket by playing against 45 different nations (Bahrain, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait. Qatar, Iran, Thailand, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Japan, Bahamas, Botswana, Jersey, Fiji, Tanzania, Italy, Hong Kong, Argentina, Papua New Guinea, Cayman Islands, Oman, Denmark, Bermuda, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, China, Namibia, Singapore, Canada, United States of America, Kenya, Trinidad and Tobago, Bhutan, Maldives, Barbados, Uganda, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand and Australia)[8][89][90]
Nabi has twice been found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct in international cricket matches, both times while playing against Ireland.
The first incident was in an ODI against Ireland in July 2016. During Ireland's batting innings, Nabi claimed to have kept the ball inside the boundary on a ball where Irish batsman Ed Joyce was run out. The umpires had to accept Nabi's word that he had kept the ball in play and Joyce was judged run out, but later photographic evidence showed that Nabi was in contact with the ball while outside the boundary and therefore it should have been four runs and Joyce should not have been dismissed. Nabi was found guilty of "conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game" and was reprimanded. Afghanistan went on to win the match by 79 runs.[91]
The second incident was in a first-class match against Ireland in March 2017. Nabi celebrated taking a catch and appealed to the umpire despite the ball clearly having hit the ground. Again, he was found guilty of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game, and he was given one demerit point. His teammate Dawlat Zadran was also warned for a separate incident during the match. Afghanistan won the match by an innings and 172 runs.[92]
Notes
^ abHis date of birth is given as 7 March 1982 by CricketArchive and Sky Sports. Other sources give it as 1 January. 1 January is used by many Afghans as a de facto date of birth, particularly those born during the 1980s and 1990s, as dates of birth were often not recorded accurately or at all, particularly during the wars fought in the country since 1978.[1][2][3]
^Only clubs for which Nabi has played for in more than one season are included in this list.