Mujeeb Zadran, the new Afghanistan and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) spinner now becomes the youngest ODI bowler to claim a five-for in a match. It was the ODI match between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday, where the 16-years old versatile spinner bowled a match-winning spell 5/50 and bagged the Match of the Match award.
While 19-years old Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan is becoming a serious thread for the world-class batsmen with day progression, another Afghanistan young spinner is showing an extraordinary class and challenging his own team-mate.
Also read: Afghanistan Looking Forward To Their Test Debut Against IndiaAt the age of just 16 years and 325 days, new Afghan sensation Mujeeb Zadran becomes the youngest bowler to claim five wickets in an ODI match. He broke the record of Pakistan legendary pacer Waqar Younis who had achieved this feat at the age of 18 years and 164 days. Rashid Khan is slipped in the third position of this list, who had claimed his first ODI five-wicket haul at the age of 18 years and 178 days.
Top five youngest ODI bowlers to claim five-for
| Player (Team) | Age to claim first ODI five-for |
| Mujeeb Zadran (Afghanistan) | 16 years & 325 days |
| Waqar Younis (Pakistan) | 18 years & 164 days |
| Rashid Khan (Afghanistan) | 18 years & 178 days |
| Wasim Akram (Pakistan) | 18 years & 266 days |
| Aftab Ahmed (Bangladesh) | 18 years & 361 days |
Also read: Waqar Younis backs Virat Kohli to break all batting records
Meanwhile, Mujeeb Zadran also becomes the second youngest bowler to claim five-for in the international cricket history. The record holder is former Pakistan versatile bowler Nasim-ul-Ghani who had claimed his first five-for in a Test innings at the age of just 16 years and 303 days. Here is the top five list:
Top five youngest bowlers in international cricket history to claim five-for in an innings
| Player (Team) | Age to claim first five-for in an innings | International cricket format where the bowler achieved this |
| Nasim-ul-Ghani (Pakistan) | 16 years & 303 days | Test |
| Mujeeb Zadran (Afghanistan) | 16 years & 325 days | ODI |
| Mohammad Amir (Pakistan) | 17 years & 257 days | Test |
| Enamul Haque Jnr. (Bangladesh) | 18 years & 32 days | Test |
| Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) | 18 years & 46 days | Test |
Before the 2018 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, Mujeeb had made his international cricket debut in last December through an ODI cricket against Ireland at Sharjah. He was the Man of the Tournament in the 2017 ACC U-19 Asia Cup, where he had taken 20 wickets and become one of the major influential members to secure his team to win the tournament.
In the recently ended ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup, Mujeeb had taken total 6 wickets on the lesser spin-friendly tracks.
His regular brilliant performances helped him to bag an IPL contract. In the 2018 IPL Auction, Mujeeb was bought by KXIP for INR 4 crores.
Coming to the match, Zimbabwe decided to bat first after winning the toss in this 4th ODI of 5-match ODI series. With the brilliant bowling of Mujeeb and other established spinners Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan, Afghanistan bowled out the African team for just 134 runs (38 overs).
In reply, the Asian side managed to claim an easy victory after reaching the target in 22nd over without losing any wicket. The comeback opener Mohammad Shahzad, who was banned for one-year due to doping violence, was remained unbeaten for 75 runs while another young opener Ihsanullah was not out on 51 runs.
With this victory, Afghanistan also secured their victory in the 5-match ODI series by leading 3-1 margin. The last match of this series is yet to play which is scheduled on upcoming Monday.
