Afghanistan cricket’s veteran and former captain Mohammad Nabi has confirmed that he’ll retire from ODIs after the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Nabi was the “Player of the Series” in Afghanistan’s ODI series win against Bangladesh in the UAE. He confirmed this during the post-match ceremony.
Nabi said, “In my mind, from the last World Cup, I was retired but then we qualified for the Champions Trophy and I felt if I could play that, it would be great”.
Talking to the Afghanistan Cricket Board’s (ACB) media team, he said, “We will see, but no, I will not play for long. God willing, after the Champions Trophy, we will say goodbye to the ODIs”.
He will continue to play the T20Is for Afghanistan. It seems like he has talked with the ACB about this. The all-rounder has been an integral part of the Afghanistan team from the start.
Mohammad Nabi made his debut in the format back in 2009 against Scotland. Incidentally, this was Afghanistan’s first appearance in One-Day Internationals. He has played 167 ODIs till now. He has scored 3600 runs at an average of 27.48 including 2 centuries and 17 fifties to his name. The veteran scored 58 runs on his ODI debut.
Nabi also has 172 wickets at an economy of 4.72. The 39-year-old is the second-highest run-scorer and the second-highest wicket-taker for Afghanistan in ODIs
A unique record for Mohammad Nabi
Nabi has a very unique record to his name in international cricket. He has defeated 45 countries playing for Afghanistan in international cricket across different formats.
From defeating the likes of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Jersey, Thailand etc to defeating big teams like Australia, England, Pakistan, New Zealand and West Indies, Nabi has seen it all in his international career. The only team he hasn’t defeated yet in international cricket is India.
Afghanistan finished 6th in the last ODI World Cup in 2023. The top 8 teams in the ICC ODI rankings take part in the ICC Champions Trophy. ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled in 2025 with Pakistan being the hosts of the event.
