Afsar Khan Zazai (; born 10 August 1993) is an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. Afsar is a right-handed

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

batsman who is known for his batting skills. He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Afghanistan's first Test match, against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, in June 2018. He was the first Test cap for Afghanistan.

International career

He effected nine dismissals in six games at the Under-19 World Cup qualifiers in September 2009. He was just 16 when he was included in the Afghanistan squad for 2010 Under-19s World Cup in

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. In 2012, he played his second Under-19s World Cup in

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. He was just 18 when he made his first-class debut for

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

in an Intercontinental Cup match in

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. In the second innings, he scored an unbeaten 84, leading to Afghanistan's three-wicket win over

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were favorites to win when they had reduced

to 111 for 6 in their chase of 233 on the second day. But Zazai did not give up and along with

Mohammad Nabi Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil (; born 1 January 1985) is an Afghan cricketer and former captain of the Afghanistan national cricket team. Nabi is an attacking batting all-rounder, playing as a right-handed batsman and off-break ...

’s 25 and Samiullah Shenwari’s 20 not out took Afghanistan to second position on the points table behind

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Afsar added 76 with Nabi and an unbroken 46 for the eighth wicket with Shenwari. He hit 13 boundaries in his unbeaten innings of 84 from 156 deliveries. Though Nabi fell to Michael Swart with the score on 187, Shenwari supported Afsar as he carried

to the target. He made his

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

debut for Afghanistan against the United Arab Emirates on 28 November 2014. In March 2017, he scored his maiden first-class century, when Afghanistan faced

in round five of the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup. In September 2018, he was named in Kabul's squad in the

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of the

Afghanistan Premier League The Afghanistan Premier League (; ), officially Gulbahar Afghanistan Premier League for sponsorship reasons, was a Twenty20 cricket franchise tournament run by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB), held in the United Arab Emirates.) The only tour ...

tournament. In May 2018, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for their inaugural Test match, played against India. He made his Test debut for Afghanistan, against India, on 14 June 2018. In September 2021, he was named as one of two travelling reserves in Afghanistan's squad for the

2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20, a Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The tournament was hosted by Unit ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zazai, Afsar 1993 births Living people Cricketers from Kabul Afghan cricketers 21st-century Afghan sportsmen Afghanistan Test cricketers Afghanistan One Day International cricketers Afghanistan Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers at the 2015 Cricket World Cup Band-e-Amir Dragons cricketers Kabul Zwanan cricketers Wicket-keepers Cricketers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for Afghanistan Asian Games medalists in cricket Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games