Born on July 15, 2007, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar is an Afghan cricket player who has played for his country. His playing career includes stints with the Mis Ainak Knights in the Afghan Shpageeza Cricket League, the Rawalpindi Raiders in the Pakistan Junior League, and the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2024 Indian Premier League.
2020 saw Ghazanfar take up cricket during the COVID-19 epidemic.[2] After learning how to spin bowl from former Afghanistan captain Dawlat Ahmadzai, he changed from being a quick bowler[1] to an off-spinner who bowls finger spin. His bowling style has drawn comparisons to that of Afghan bowler Mujeeb Zadran.
Ghazanfar has experience training with the Afghanistan national under-19 cricket team and is a regular at the Mirza Mohammad Katawazai Cricket Centre in Kabul. Ghazanfar participated in the Afghan Shpageeza Cricket League as a player for the Mis Ainak Knights. In his first outing, he got 1/27 in 4 overs, and in his second, he claimed 4 wickets.
He was one of 12 international players competing for the Rawalpindi Raiders in the Pakistan Junior League in 2022. Although he was listed in the draft for the Big Bash League season of 2022–2023, he was not chosen. For the Nepal T20 League’s debut season, he is a member of the Far Western United squad.
Allah Ghazanfar Biography
| Name | Allah Ghazanfar |
| Full Name | Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar |
| Date of Birth | 15 July 2007 |
| Place of Birth | Paktia, Afghanistan |
| Other Names | NA |
| Nationality | Afghan |
| Father’s Name | NA |
| Mother’s Name | NA |
| Siblings | NA |
| Spouse | NA |
| Marriage Date | NA |
| Children | NA |
| Role | Bowling |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| Bowling | Right arm off spin |
| ODI Debut | 7 March 2024 vs. Ireland |
| Test Debut | NA |
| Favourite Food | NA |
| Favourite Actor | NA |
| Favourite Actress | NA |
| Favourite Colour | Blue |
| Retirement | Still Playung |
Ghazanfar was a part of the Indian Premier League 2023 auction when he was fifteen years old. At the auction that year, he was the youngest player entered, with a base price of ₹20 lakh (US$25,000).In the auction, he failed to sell. Ghazanfar participated in the Green Afghanistan One Day Cup in 2023 as a player for Junior Champions, a group of under-19 national team players from Afghanistan.
He was included in Afghanistan’s 15-man Under-19 Cricket World Cup team for 2024. Against New Zealand, he took three wickets for 29 runs. At the age of 16 years and 236 days, Ghazanfar made his senior team debut for Afghanistan in their series against Ireland.
Ghazanfar replaced Mujeeb Ur Rahman when he signed a contract with Kolkata Knight Riders in March 2024 to play in the Indian Premier League for a base salary of ₹20 lakh (US$25,000). The Mumbai Indians had attempted to contact him a few days before as a nets bowler, but he was unable to get a visa to serve in that capacity.
In the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), Rajasthan Royals (RR) recruited Keshav Maharaj to the roster instead of Prasidh Krishna, while Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) announced Allah Ghazanfar as a substitute for the injured Mujeeb Ur Rahman. In two ODIs, Allah Ghazanfar has played for Afghanistan. The young player has taken 5 and 4 wickets in 3 T20 and 6 List A matches, respectively. He pays INR 20 Lac, which is his basic fee, to join KKR.
Batting & Fielding Stats
| YEAR | MAT | NO | RUNS | HS | AVG | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4S | 6S | CT | ST | |
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Bowling
| YEAR | MAT | BALLS | RUNS | WKTS | BBM | AVE | ECON | SR | 4W | 5W | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No stats | |||||||||||
Ghazanfar, who went unsold in December 2022, was the youngest player in the 2023 Indian Premier League player auction at the age of 15. At the U19 World Cup in South Africa this year, he also represented Afghanistan as a player. At the age of sixteen, he began playing cricket during the Covid shutdown against his father’s wishes, missed the chance to play net bowling for the Mumbai Indians, and is now a substitute for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
Over the last four years, Allah Mohammad Ghazanfar’s life in Afghanistan has resembled a fantasy come true. Allah began playing cricket just in 2020, therefore when Mumbai’s head coach Mark Boucher saw him before the 2024 season, he was delighted to be a net bowler for the team. When Allah traveled to Abu Dhabi from Dubai, where he was with the U-19 national team for the Asia Cup in December of last year, the five-time winners even provided him with a vehicle.
Coincidentally, the authorities reportedly refused to grant him a visa because they believe a net bowler is not eligible for an Indian visa as a player. Everything occurs for a reason, as they say, and in this instance, Allah had a better choice in mind. Allah was selected on Thursday to replace fellow countryman Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the KKR team, after days in which he was denied the chance to bowl against MI players in the nets.
The two-time winners have signed him on a base fee of Rs 20 lakh. The CEO of KR gave him a call on Wednesday. From Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul, Atta Mohammad Ghazanfar, the eldest brother of Allah, shared this daily. “It was a moment to cherish for all of us.” Allah, an enigmatic spinner, made his debut for Afghanistan against Ireland in a One-Day International (ODI) in Sharjah earlier this month.
