It would seem Mumbai Indians have a gem in their ranks. Eighteen-year-old mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar showed off his impressive skills once again on Saturday as he took 5-33 as defeated hosts Zimbabwe by eight wickets in the third and final one-day international on Saturday to claim the series 2-0 after the opening game was washed out by rain.
After electing to field first, Afghanistan took advantage of Zimbabwe’s brittle batting line-up to bowl the home side out for 127 in 30.1 overs, with Ghazanfar, 18, and Rashid Khan (3-38) leading the way. Sean Williams top scored with 60.
Zimbabwe were dismissed for 54 in the second ODI, so it was an improvement, but never a total to trouble the tourists, who cruised to their victory target for the loss of two wickets in 26.5 overs at the Harare Sports Club. Opener Sediqullah Atal scored 52 from 50 balls after making 104 in the second fixture.
Ghazanfar gets another 5-fer!🪄
The spin sensation made light work of Zimbabwe’s batting line-up to bag his 2nd 5-wicket haul in ODIs in only his 11th ODI. #ZIMvAFGonFanCode pic.twitter.com/7p4K4LbKYm
— FanCode (@FanCode) December 21, 2024
Ghazanfar, in his brief international career, has already registered two five-wicket hauls. He has picked up 21 wickets in 11 matches, with a best of 6/26 against Bangladesh in Sharjah last month. He is yet to make his T20I debut but has a couple of four-wicket hauls in T20 cricket. He made his breakthrough at the ICC U19 World Cup. He was a member of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad which went on to win the 2024 Indian Premier League, drafted in for the injured Mujeeb Ur Rahman but did not play a single game for the franchise. “It takes a lot of convincing for us to go for a foreign spinner,” Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani had said after It takes a lot of convincing for us to go for specialist foreign spinners. We really rate Allah (Ghazanfar) as a package.”
In a chat with ICC’s social media handle during the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, Ghazanfar had revealed that his favourite delivery was the carrom ball. “My favourite cricketer is Ravichandran Ashwin. He’s a world-class cricketer and a legend. He bowls so many variations of off-spin bowling. I’m closely monitoring the world’s best.”
With Reuters Inputs
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