Mohammad Nabi, the Afghanistan all-rounder squashes 'death' rumours

Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi dismissed the rumours pertaining to his death on October 4. Writing on microblogging website Twitter, he issued a clarification stating that certain media outfits were spreading ‘fake’ news. Earlier, the hoax about the 34-year-old player’s alleged demise shocked cricket fans in the country. The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) also put out photos showing Nabi practising along with his teammates after the rumours broke out. In the past, cricketers like Abdul Razzaq, Suresh Raina and Brendon McCullum have also fallen prey to such hoaxes. 

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Nabi’s recent form in Bangladesh

Recently, Afghanistan toured Bangladesh for a solitary test and T20 tri-series featuring Zimbabwe as well. In the Chittagong test, Bangladesh was trounced by 224 runs. Nabi, who decided to retire from Test cricket after this game, failed to make an impact with the bat. However, he picked 4 crucial wickets in the match. His retirement call was aimed at extending his tenure in red-ball cricket. Following this, the T20 series witnessed Nabi’s pivotal role as a batsman.  

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His knock of 38 from just 18 balls featuring 4 sixes and conceding just 9 runs in his two-over bowling spell in the second match of the series, helped his team beat Zimbabwe by 28 runs. Similarly, in the third game, Nabi scored a quickfire 84 consisting of three boundaries and 7 sixes, propelling Afghanistan to 164. Bangladesh faltered in their chase and fell way short of the target. While Afghanistan and Bangladesh reached the final, the trophy had to be shared as the match was washed out due to rain. His next assignment will be the series against West Indies. This will involve a Test, three One-Day internationals and three T20 international matches. The entire series will be played in India, with the first T20 commencing on November 5 at Dehradun.

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