The young Afghan leg-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has grabbed a lot of limelight in recent times after his exploits in the recently concluded season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Having been one of four Afghans to go under the hammer in the IPL 2018  players’ auction, he impressed one and all by delivering his best for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

However, while Mujeeb’s performances have left most of the fans dazzled, he has been one of Afghanistan’s best bowlers in the shortest format of the game. Having been drafted into the squad for the Bangladesh series, it would seem as though Mujeeb has come of age. The ongoing series in Dehradun against Bangladesh has proved that the youngster is indeed can make an impact on the big stage.

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Speaking about his bowling prowess, Mujeeb asserted that he used to bowl to his uncle and now uses every opportunity possible to bowl at internationally acclaimed players. He said, “I used to bowl to my uncle from a very young age. And I bowled with a mindset that I was already playing at the international level. Right from the beginning, I got a chance to bowl to an international player.”

When asked how difficult it was to communicate with Afghanistan bowling coach Charl Langeveldt, he said that he did indeed bank on his cricketing knowledge and it did not matter if he spoke English or not. He also added that he watched Ajantha Mendis and Ravi Ashwin to learn spin bowling.

The young bowler elaborated, “I bank on my cricketing knowledge. I understand what is being told to me, the language doesn’t matter. I understand cricketing stuff. I watched Ajantha Mendis, Sunil Narine and Ravichandran Ashwin bowling different type of balls. That fascinated me. I kept watching the videos and grew with it. I observed his footwork very minutely. I drew him forward and exposed the gap.”