He played an important role in Afghanistan's rise to the top level of international cricket, playing in both the first One Day International in April 2009 and the first Test match in June 2018. He was part of Afghanistan's first ever T20I team when the team played against him played Ireland on 1 February 2010 and he became the Afghanistan national team's fifth cap in Twenty20 Internationals. He was also part of Afghanistan's first ever T20 World Cup team when Afghanistan played their first T20 World Cup match against India in a group stage match against India during the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. He captained the team in their first appearances at the 2014 Asia Cup and 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 .

In September 2019, he announced his retirement from Test cricket to prolong his limited career as a cricketer. In August 2020, Nabi was accepted as a member of the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

Early Life and Career

Nabi was born in Logar Province, Afghanistan, but his family moved to Peshawar, Pakistan to flee the Soviet-Afghan war. At the age of 10 he started playing cricket in Peshawar Afghan national team. Nabi played his first competitive game in 2003 when he played for an Afghan team against the Rahim Yar Khan Cricket Association. Afghanistan's squad were poor, but Nabi scored the highest score for the team at 61 runs. Afghanistan did not have its own cricket equipment at the time and was reliant on buying it from Pakistan and India.

In 2006, Nabi played for Afghanistan in a tour match against Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Mumbai, India. He scored the highest score for Afghanistan at 116 in a big win and was noticed by former English test captain Mike Gatting. Nabi was then accepted into the MCC's Young Cricketers program in England. At the MCC, Nabi made his first-class debut in a tour match against Sri Lanka A in 2007 and scored the highest number of points for his team in the first innings with 43 runs. He then played cricket in Pakistan for the Pakistani customs authorities.

International Career

Afghanistan's Rise to ODI Status (2008-2009)

Mohammad Nabi was part of Afghanistan's "overwhelming" rise from the fifth division of the World Cricket League to One Day International status. This started in the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five, which Afghanistan won. Nabi played in all seven Afghan games for the tournament, scoring 108 runs and taking 10 wickets, the second most for Afghanistan in each. This success was followed in 2008 by the ICC World Cricket League Division Four, which Afghanistan also won. Nabi was named man of the tournament after taking 14 wickets averaging 5.35 and doing 154 runs averaging 25.66.

Nabi was also on the Afghan team for the 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, which they won to enter the 2009 Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. Despite failing to qualify for the 2011 World Cricket Championship, Afghanistan achieved One Day International (ODI) status and their final game of the tournament, the fifth-place play-off against Scotland, was the country's first ever ODI. Nabi scored 58 to make his first ODI half-century on his ODI debut, a game that Afghanistan won. He was voted player of the game.

Early international career (2009-2013)

Nabi played his first first class match for Afghanistan in the 2009/10 ICC Intercontinental Cup against a Zimbabwe XI, scoring a century and winning 3/90 in the first innings. He continued to be an important part of the Afghan team in the Intercontinental Cup and also played a pivotal role for the team in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier that saw Afghanistan qualify for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.

Nabi was a constant performance for Afghanistan and vice-captain under Nawroz Mangal's captain, when Mangal was released from captaincy ahead of the 2010 Asian Games, Nabi was appointed captain of Afghanistan. Afghanistan. Afghanistan finished the Asian Games runners-up after losing the final to Bangladesh and Nabi failed to remain the captain after the games.

Captain's Office (2013-2015)

In March 2013, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced that Nabi would lead the national team at the ICC Intercontinental Cup in the United Arab Emirates after Nawroz Mangal was removed from captaincy after his dark show in the limited series in Pakistan the previous month. Under his captain, Afghanistan took part in the 2014 Asian Cup, their first major international ODI tournament. [28] During the tournament, they defeated Bangladesh in their fourth game against a test nation. Nabi remained captain during the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and 2015 World Cricket Championships, but due to poor form and winning only one game in Afghanistan at the World Cup, he resigned as captain in April 2015.

Post Captain (2015-present)

Nabi's poor form continued after his resignation from captaincy through to Afghanistan’s bilateral ODI series against Zimbabwe. During the series, Afghanistan's new coach Inzamam-ul-Haq promoted Nabi from number 6 to number 3. Afghanistan won the series 3-2, the first time an Associate team had ever defeated a full member in a bilateral series.

Nabi took on a huge responsibility in ICC World Twenty20 2016 to help Afghanistan beat Hong Kong and Zimbabwe in the group stage. Nabi was the man of the game in both games and Afghanistan reached the Super-10 round. Nabi put in a strong performance in the Afghanistan game against England as they almost caused a big surprise. Nabi caught a catch, took a wicket bowling and caused a run-out during the game, but England remained to win by 15 runs.

In May 2018 he was called up to the Afghan squad for the first friendly against India. On June 14, 2018, he made his test debut for Afghanistan against India. In February 2019, he was appointed to Afghanistan's test squad for the one-off game against Ireland in India. In 2019 he won the man of the game in the first T20I against Ireland for his 49 runs and 2 wickets. Also in the third T20I in the series, Nabi scored an 81 and bowled an economic spell of 0-28 (4) to win the man of the game and the series.

In April 2019, he was named to the Afghanistan squad for the 2019 World Cricket Championship. On June 29, 2019, in the game against Pakistan, Nabi won his 200th wicket in international cricket. He finished the tournament as the leading wicket taker for Afghanistan with ten layoffs in nine games.

During the one-time friendly against Bangladesh, he announced his retirement from test cricket to focus on white ball cricket. In September 2021, he was appointed to the Afghan squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

He resigned from captaincy after the conclusion of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup due to disagreements with the team management and frustration with the team's preparation. Due to his poor performance, he was also dropped from Afghanistan's T20I squad for the series against UAE.

However, in March 2023, he returned to the T20I squad for the series against Pakistan. On March 24, 2023, in the first T20I, he scored 38 runs off 38 balls and picked up 2 wickets for 12 runs. His all-round performance helped Afghanistan to their first victory over Pakistan in an international cricket format.

Domestic and T20 franchise careers

Nabi has participated in numerous Twenty20 franchise tournaments around the world, including the Bangladesh Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Indian Premier League, Caribbean Premier League, Big Bash League, Vitality Blast, and Afghanistan Premier League. He was the first player from Afghanistan to be bought at the IPL player auction.

Bangladesh Premier League

Nabi first played for the Sylhet Royals in the Bangladesh Premier League in 2013. He was brought on the team to replace the injured West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell, as the team's coach, Mohammad Salahuddin, wanted an offspinner on the team. He performed well for the Royals with both bat and ball, especially early in the bowling innings, and he finished the tournament as the team's lead wicket taker with 18 wickets.

Nabi was drafted by the Rangpur Riders for the 2015 edition of the tournament where he took seven wickets and scored 37 runs. He was then signed to the Chittagong Vikings for the 2016 tournament. He had notable success, winning 19 wickets, most for Chittagong and third most of the tournament, scoring his first BPL in half a century and the highest score of his career at 87, which he missed in a match against the Rajshahi Kings. For the 2017 tournament, he moved to the Comilla Victorians. In November 2019 he was selected to play for the Rangpur Rangers in the 2019/20 Bangladesh Premier League.

Pakistani Super League

Nabi played for the Quetta Gladiators in the 2016 Pakistan Super League, the tournament's inaugural season. He played eight matches for the Gladiators and in his final match for the tournament against Lahore Qalandars, he scored 30 runs from 12 balls, including 4 runs from the last ball of the match, to win the game for the Gladiators. Nabi left the tournament early to play for Afghanistan in the 2016 Asian Cup qualifiers and was replaced on the team by Nathan McCullum. Nabi signed with the Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League 2021.In December 2021, he was signed by the Karachi Kings following the player draft for the 2022 Pakistan Super League.

Indian Premier League

In the 2017 IPL auction, Nabi became the first Afghan player to be sold in the IPL and went to Sunrisers Hyderabad for its base price of 30 lakh. He was the third player from Afghanistan to participate in the 2017 auction, but the first two remained unsold. He was followed by his Afghan teammate Rashid Khan, who also went to Hyderabad. Nabi only played three games at the 2017 tournament. In January 2018, Nabi was bought again by the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL auction, this time for 1 crore, but he still only played two matches. In February 2022, he was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.

Other leagues

In September 2018, he was named to Balkh's squad for the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament.

Nabi played for Leicestershire County Cricket Club in the 2018 t20 Blast. In a match against Lancashire, he scored 86 runs of 32 balls to secure a five-wicket win for the side. In February 2019, he signed to play for the Kent County Cricket Club in the 2019 edition of the competition. In November 2019 he signed another contract for Kent for the t20 Blast 2020 in England.

Nabi played Big Bash League for the Melbourne Renegades in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. In December 2018, after a 94-time unbeaten partnership with Dan Christian, he managed the winning streak against defending champion Adelaide Strikers.

In July 2020, he was named to the St. Lucia Zouks squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League. On August 27, 2020, in the game against the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, Nabi took his first five-wicket haul in a T20 match.

Records

Nabi holds the record for the fastest fifty by an Afghan cricketer in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).

On 15 March 2018, during the 2018 Cricket World Cup qualifier against the West Indies, he became the first bowler for Afghanistan to take 100 wickets in One Day Internationals (ODIs).

In August 2018, during Afghanistan's tour of Ireland, he became the first Afghanistan cricketer to play in 100 ODI matches. It was also the 100th ODI played by the Afghanistan cricket team.

Violations of the ICC Code of Conduct

Nabi was twice found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct in international cricket, both times in the match against Ireland.

The first incident occurred 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 that saw Irish batsman Ed Joyce run out of the field. The referees had to accept Nabi's word that he had kept the ball in play and Joyce was ruled a run out. However, later photographic evidence showed that Nabi made contact with the ball outside the boundary of the pitch and therefore there should have been four runs and Joyce should not have been dismissed. Nabi was found guilty of “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game” and received a reprimand. Afghanistan won the game by 79 runs.

The second incident occurred in a first-class match against Ireland in March 2017. Nabi celebrated a catch and turned to the umpire, even though the ball had obviously hit the ground. Once again he was accused of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game and was awarded a demerit point. His teammate Dawlat Zadran was also booked for a separate incident during the game. Afghanistan won the game by an innings and 172 runs.