Mumbai Indians Announce Replacement For Allah Ghazanfar In IPL 2025

Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a huge setback ahead of the IPL 2025. They lost Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar for the entire tournament. Now, the MI franchise has replaced Ghazanfar with his Afghanistan countrymate, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

The Mumbai Indians paid Rs 4.8 crore for Ghazanfar at the blockbuster auction. The 18-year-old earlier joined the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 as a replacement for Mujeeb Ur Rahman but did not play. Despite not making his IPL debut, he has demonstrated his abilities on the international level.

Allah Ghazanfar has represented Afghanistan in each of the three forms. The young sinner has played 11 One-Day Internationals and 19 Twenty20 matches, taking 21 and 30 wickets, respectively. In franchise cricket, he has 30 wickets in 19 T20s, an impressive bowling average of 13.50, and a great economy rate of 6.12.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman replaces Allah Ghazanfar in the Mumbai Indians franchise for IPL 2025

He was also named to the ICC's ODI Team of the Year for 2024. During the IPL 2025 mega auction, the Mumbai Indians outbid the Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru for their services. He was projected to be MI's top spinner this season, with Mitchell Santner.

BCCI release an official statement

On Sunday, February 16, the IPL announced on its official website that the Mumbai Indians have signed Mujeeb Ur Rahman to replace the injured Ghazanfar for the IPL 2025 season.

"Mumbai Indians picked Mujeeb-ur-Rahman as a replacement for Allah Ghazanfar for the upcoming edition of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Allah Ghazanfar is ruled out of the season due to an injury. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman – a right-arm off-spinner – has played 19 IPL matches and has 19 IPL wickets against his name. He joins MI for INR 2 Crore," the statement read.

Mujeeb went unsold in Mega Auction

Mujeeb Ur Rahman went unsold in the IPL 2025 big auction, despite a base price of Rs 2 crore. He had previously signed with the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2024 season but was unable to play owing to injuries. Mujeeb made his IPL debut in 2018 and last appeared in 2021. He has taken 19 wickets in 19 IPL appearances.

Mumbai Indians experienced a poor IPL 2024 season, finishing last in the points table for the second time in three years. They previously finished in last place during the 2022 season. MI won just four of 14 matches and earned eight points, with a net run rate (NRR) of -0.318.

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