New Delhi: Five-time Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians suffered a huge blow in their quest to add another title to their trophy cabinet on Wednesday, February 12, after the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed that mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar will be sidelined for at least four months due to a spinal injury.

Ghazanfar, one of the bright young cricketers to shine on the big stage in recent years, sustained a fracture in his L4 vertebra while playing for Afghanistan in Zimbabwe last year. The duration of his injury break means Ghazanfar will miss the upcoming Champions Trophy and will also not travel to India next month to play in IPL 2025.

The right-arm mystery spinner had replaced fellow finger-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the squad for the marquee tournament.

Ghazanfar has played one Test and 11 ODIs for Afghanistan. He was bought for Rs 4.80 crore in the IPL 2025 mega auction last year by Mumbai Indians. The 18-year-old spinner was seen as one of the four overseas starters for the Hardik Pandya-led side.

 

Nangyal Kharoti in for Ghazanfar

Afghanistan have added Nangyal Kharoti from the travelling reserves to the main squad as Ghazanfar’s replacement.

“Nangyal Kharoti, who was part of the reserves pool, has been promoted to the main squad for the Champions Trophy. Additionally, Mujeeb Ur Rahman continues to miss the ODI action, until he has fully recovered,” the release said.

Ghazanfar, who was in line to make his IPL debut in the 2025 edition, was signed by the Mumbai-based franchise after a fierce battle with Kolkata Knight Riders.

It will be interesting to see the potential replacement choices of Mumbai Indians. The five-time champions can look to replace Ghazanfar with South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj or English leg-spinner Adil Rashid – players who went unsold at the mega-auction.