Omarzai and Rashid to miss the MLC with the latter opting out of the tournament to take a break for a while.
Omarzai and Rashid set to miss MLC 2025 for their franchsies.
In order to take a break, Rashid, who plays for MI New York, has chosen to withdraw from the competition, which begins on Friday.
Rashid was MINY’s top bowler in the previous MLC season, taking 10 wickets at a 6.15 average, despite his club finishing fourth with only two victories in seven games. His absence will undoubtedly affect MINY. Rashid last played for the Gujarat Titans in the 2025 Indian Premier League, where they were defeated by the Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator. With just nine wickets at an economy rate of 9.34 and an average of 57.11, it was Rashid’s worst IPL season.
Since making his IPL debut in 2017, this was the first time his wickets column had failed to hit double figures. Rashid let up 33 sixes, the most by any bowler in a single IPL season, as Batters dominated him throughout the season.
Azmatullah Omarzai, another Afghanistan all-rounder, is also expected to miss MLC since he has also reportedly taken a hiatus from playing, which is another shock to MINY’s ambitions. Omarzai, like Rashid, competed in the IPL last season as a member of the runners-up Punjab Kings.
However, there is some good news for the MLC: Waqar Salamkheil (Seattle Orcas), Noor Ahmed (Texas Super Kings), and Naveen-ul-Haq (MINY) have joined their respective teams after concerns about Afghanistan players’ participation arose due to the US government’s travel ban on citizens from 12 countries.
Afghanistan is one of the 12 nations on the list, and the restriction went into effect this week. Burma, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen are the other countries.
Two other Afghanistan players – Gulbadin Naib and Fazalhaq Farooqi, who play for Orcas – are understood to be awaiting visas to travel to play in MLC.