Mujeeb roped in by Mumbai Indians as Ghazanfar’s injury replacement for the upcoming IPL season starting March.
Mujeeb roped in to replace his compatriot AM Ghazanfar in the Mumbai Indians setup for the upcoming IPL.
Due to a back injury, Ghazanfar was ruled out of both the Champions Trophy, which begins on Wednesday, and the ensuing IPL.
Earlier this week, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced that Ghazanfar had suffered “a fracture of the L4 vertebra” during Afghanistan’s tour of Zimbabwe last month, which was the reason for his absence from the Champions Trophy. Ghazanfar, who had a successful ODI career before landing his first IPL deal, will miss four months of sport.
Mujeeb played a single game for Sunrisers Hyderabad during the 2021 Indian Premier League, which was his last appearance. He played for the Punjab Kings in three seasons starting in 2018 and made his tournament debut at the age of 17. With an economy rate of 6.75 and an average of 23.67, Mujeeb has taken 275 T20 wickets. He most recently played for the Paarl Royals in the SA20, where they were defeated in Qualifier 2 by the finalists Sunrisers Eastern Cape. At an average of 23.14, he took 14 wickets in 12 games, the most of any player in the competition for the Royals.
Mujeeb also missed five months of work until November of last year because of a sprain to his right phalanx, or hand. After playing all three Twenty20 Internationals for Afghanistan during their tour of Zimbabwe, he made a comeback in the Abu Dhabi T10 before taking a plane to South Africa for the SA20. Afghanistan’s temporary chief selector, Ahmad Suliman Khil, stated that “his doctor has advised him to focus on T20s for a while to ensure his full recovery before returning to ODIs,” which is why he was not selected for the Champions Trophy.
After failing to sell at the IPL 2025 auction, Mujeeb has now joined MI for INR 2 crore, or around US $230,764.