If everything goes as planned, Afghanistan’s mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman will return to the IPL after four years.
Mumbai Indians have signed Mujeeb as a replacement for injured Afghan spinner AM Ghazanfar for the upcoming IPL 2025. This means the 23-year-old will be back in India’s franchise T20 league after a long absence.
Ghazanfar, the 18-year-old spinner, suffered a back injury last week, ruling him out of both the Champions Trophy and IPL 2025.
Interestingly, last year, Kolkata Knight Riders had signed Ghazanfar as a replacement for an injured Mujeeb. Despite being hailed as the ‘next Mujeeb’ in Afghan cricket, he didn’t get a chance to play for KKR.
At the IPL 2025 auction in November, Mumbai Indians picked up Ghazanfar for ₹4.8 crore, far above his base price of ₹75 lakh. However, his IPL debut will now have to wait, as he is expected to be out of action for four months.
Mujeeb, who went unsold in the auction, has now been signed as Ghazanfar’s replacement for ₹2 crore. The five-time IPL champions officially announced the move on Sunday.
The last time Mujeeb played in the IPL was in 2021, when he featured in just one match for Sunrisers Hyderabad. His IPL journey began in 2018 with Punjab Kings at the age of 17, where he took 17 wickets in 18 matches across three seasons.
Overall, Mujeeb has played 256 T20 matches, picking up 275 wickets at an economy rate of 6.75. His best bowling figures in T20s are 5 for 15.
Recently, he played for Paarl Royals in the SA20, finishing as the team’s highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in 12 matches before they bowed out in the second qualifier.
IPL 2025 is set to begin on March 22.
