He took the wicket of former MI player.
Afghanistan’s young spin sensation AM Ghazanfar is currently playing his trade in the ongoing T20 Blast 2025 in England. Derbyshire Falcons roped in the 19-year-old for the group stage. Ghazanfar, who was named in the ICC Men’s ODI Team of the Year for 2024, took part in the game against Yorkshire, where he wreaked havoc with the ball, picking up two wickets in his four overs of quota. The Mumbai Indians bowler ended the day with a 2/5 spell.
In the T20I game, the young spinner bowled two maiden overs, which is still a rare sight for many.
Talking about the game, Derbyshire won the toss and then opted to bowl first. The Yorkshire batters struggled from the beginning as their openers departed cheaply. Apart from Dom Bess, none of the batters were able to stay in the middle. Bess smashed 53 runs in just 37 balls, helping his team make a total of 151 runs after 20 overs. For Derbyshire, Ghazanfar scalped two wickets, including the crucial wicket of Jonny Bairstow, who departed for a golden duck. Ben Aitchison also bowled brilliantly, scalping five wickets in his four-over spell.
In reply, the likes of Aneurin Donald and Caleb Jewell gave a solid start to Derbyshire, making 54 and 41 respectively. Wayne Madsen also chipped in with a brilliant half century, helping his team beat Yorkshire by eight wickets in Leeds.
Overall, in the T20 Blast 2025 season, Ghazanfar has scalped 15 wickets in 13 games. He takes a wicket every 24.06 balls and gives runs at 7.07 rpo. Against Yorkshire, he rolled his best spell of 2/5.
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Ghazanfar, who starred with the ball, was also a part of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Mumbai Indians (MI) shelled out a whopping INR 4.80 crore in the mega auction. But the Afghan threat could not take part due to a back injury. He suffered a fracture in the L4 vertebra during Afghanistan’s tour of Zimbabwe and also missed out on taking part in the Champions Trophy 2025.
Ghazanfar is known for his variations and ability to turn the ball both ways. In his short career, he has played a lot of franchise cricket across the globe. He can be a great addition to the Mumbai Indians team, citing the fact that he is almost unplayable. The Mumbai-based franchise also has the likes of Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, and Vignesh Puthur among other spin options.
As of now, the Afghanistan-based spinner has played 11 ODI matches, where he has collected 21 wickets at an economy rate of 4.05. He also has two five-wicket hauls under his belt. He is yet to make his T20I debut for Afghanistan.
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