THIS new Mumbai Indians star set to play in Boxing Day Test, added to Afghanistan squad for…

Young spinner Allah Ghazanfar has been added to Afghanistan’s squad for their upcoming Test series against Zimbabwe, starting in Bulawayo on Boxing Day on Thursday. The development comes after reports emerged of Rashid Khan being unavailable for the Boxing Day game due to personal reasons.

“Allah Ghazanfar has been added to Afghanistan’s squad for the two-match Test series against Zimbabwe, with the first one being scheduled to begin tomorrow in Bulawayo,” said the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) through their ‘X’ post on Wednesday.

SQUAD UPDATE!

AM Ghazanfar has been added to Afghanistan’s squad for the two-match test series against Zimbabwe, with the first one being scheduled to begin tomorrow in Bulawayo. #AfghanAtalan | #ZIMvAFG | #GloriousNationVictoriousTeam pic.twitter.com/fR5KRHqeSS

— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) December 25, 2024

Ghazanfar’s maiden call-up to the Test team comes after he picked up impressive figures of 5/33 in the third ODI at Harare Sports Club, which helped Afghanistan secure an eight-wicket win and take a 2-0 series win. Interestingly, Ghazanfar is yet to play a first-class game in his cricketing career.

He was picked up by five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians for Rs 4.8 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction last month. He was earlier part of Kolkata Knight Riders squad in IPL 2024 but didn’t play any match.

The year 2024 has been a meteoric one for Ghazanfar, who began by playing for Afghanistan in the U19 men’s World Cup in South Africa, where he bagged eight wickets in four matches at an economy rate of 3.35 and was followed by his senior ODI debut against Ireland in March.

He then guided Afghanistan ‘A’ to winning their maiden ACC men’s T20 Emerging Teams Asia Cup title in 2024, winning the Player of the Match award in the final against Sri Lanka ‘A’ in Oman. The series opening game against Afghanistan, to be played at the Queens Sports Club, will be the first time Zimbabwe will be hosting their first Boxing Day Test at home in 28 years. It will be followed by Zimbabwe hosting its first New Year’s Test, scheduled for January 2-6, 2025.

Afghanistan updated Test squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Rahmat Shah, Ikram Alikhail, Afsar Zazai, Riaz Hassan, Sediqullah Atal, Abdul Malik, Baheer Shah Mahboob, Ismat Alam, Azmatullah Omarzai, Zahir Khan, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Zahir Shehzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Bashir Ahmad Afghan, Naveed Zadran, Fareed Ahmad Malik and Allah Ghazanfar