Mohammad Nabi

Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil is an Afghan cricketer and former captain of the Afghanistan national cricket team, born in Logar Province. Nicknamed "The President", he is an attacking all-rounder who bats right-handed and bowls off spin. He played a major role in Afghanistan's rise to the top level of international cricket, playing in both their first One Day International (ODI) in April 2009 and their first Test match in June 2018, and was part of Afghanistan's first T20I team and its first T20 World Cup team in 2010. ^{1 2 3}

He captained Afghanistan at the 2014 Asia Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, has played in numerous Twenty20 franchise tournaments worldwide, and was the first player from Afghanistan to be bought in the Indian Premier League player auction. ¹

Nabi was born in Logar Province into a prosperous industrial family. His family moved to Peshawar in Pakistan, fleeing the Soviet–Afghan War. He started playing cricket in Peshawar at the age of ten, and his family moved back to Afghanistan in 2000, where he began playing with Mohammad Shahzad, Asghar Afghan and Shapoor Zadran, all later important members of the national team. He played his first competitive match in 2003 for an Afghanistan team against the Rahim Yar Khan Cricket Association, top-scoring with 61 runs. ¹

In 2006 he top-scored with 116 for Afghanistan in a tour match against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Mumbai and was noticed by former England Test captain Mike Gatting; he was included in the MCC's Young Cricketers programme in England, made his first-class debut against Sri Lanka A in 2007, and then played domestic cricket in Pakistan for Pakistan Customs. The article notes a dispute over his birth date: its infobox gives 1 January 1985, while CricketArchive and Sky Sports give 7 March 1985, and 1 January is used by many Afghans as a de facto date of birth because dates were often not recorded accurately during the wars since 1978. ¹

Nabi was part of Afghanistan's rise from Division Five of the World Cricket League to ODI status: Afghanistan won Division Five and Division Four in 2008, Nabi being named player of the tournament in Division Four, and won Division Three in 2009 to reach the World Cup Qualifier. Afghanistan's final match of that qualifier, against Scotland on 19 April 2009, was the country's first ever ODI; Nabi scored 58 on his ODI debut and was named player of the match. He went on to play in Afghanistan's first T20I, against Ireland on 1 February 2010, and in its first Test, against India on 14 June 2018. ¹

In March 2018 he became the first bowler for Afghanistan to take 100 ODI wickets, and in August 2018 the first Afghan cricketer to play in 100 ODI matches — also Afghanistan's 100th ODI. As of June 2024 he held the record of having been part of Afghanistan wins against 45 different nations in international cricket. His son Hassan Eisakhil is also a cricketer. ¹

Having been vice-captain under Nawroz Mangal, he was appointed captain ahead of the 2010 Asian Games, where Afghanistan finished runners-up to Bangladesh. In March 2013 the Afghanistan Cricket Board again named him captain; under his leadership Afghanistan played the 2014 Asia Cup, their first major international ODI tournament, defeating Bangladesh, and he remained captain through the 2014 World Twenty20 and the 2015 Cricket World Cup, resigning in April 2015 after Afghanistan won only one World Cup match. He was named captain again for the 2021 T20 World Cup and stepped down after the 2022 T20 World Cup, citing disagreements with the team management; Rashid Khan succeeded him as T20I captain in December 2022. ¹

His form revived in the 2015 ODI series against Zimbabwe, when new coach Inzamam-ul-Haq promoted him to number three and he scored his maiden ODI century; Afghanistan won the series 3–2, the first time an associate team had beaten a full member in a bilateral series. In September 2019 he retired from Test cricket to prolong his limited-overs career, and in August 2020 he was inducted as a member of the Afghanistan Cricket Board. On 24 March 2023 his all-round performance helped Afghanistan to their first ever win over Pakistan in any format, and on 12 March 2024 he took his maiden ODI five-wicket haul, against Ireland. ¹

In the 2017 IPL auction Nabi became the first Afghan player sold in the IPL, going to Sunrisers Hyderabad; his teammate Rashid Khan followed him to the same team. He has played in the Bangladesh Premier League, the Pakistan Super League (for Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings), the Big Bash League (Melbourne Renegades), the Caribbean Premier League and the English T20 Blast (Leicestershire and Kent), and was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2022 IPL. ¹

This section is reported from the source and is not a verdict by the museum. The article reports that Nabi was twice found guilty of breaching the ICC Code of Conduct in matches against Ireland: in an ODI in July 2016, for conduct contrary to the spirit of the game over a boundary claim on which Ed Joyce was run out, for which he was reprimanded; and in a first-class match in March 2017, for celebrating a catch that had clearly hit the ground, for which he received one demerit point. ¹

His public significance lies in his central place in Afghanistan's rise from the lowest division of the World Cricket League to Test cricket, his presence in the country's first ODI, T20I and Test teams, his captaincy at its first Asia Cup and a World Cup, and his standing as the first Afghan bought at an IPL auction, which opened the franchise game to Afghan players. ¹

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