Afghanistan offspinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has joined the Mumbai Indians (MI) for IPL 2025, replacing AM Ghazanfar, who is sidelined due to a back injury. Ghazanfar, ruled out for four months after fracturing his L4 vertebra during a tour of Zimbabwe, was unable to participate in the Champions Trophy or IPL. Mujeeb, previously active in IPL until 2021 with Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, boasts 275 T20 wickets with a solid average. Recently, he performed well in the SA20 with 14 wickets but was advised to focus on T20s for his recovery. He signed with MI for INR 2 crore.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced Ghazanfar’s withdrawal from the Champions Trophy earlier this week, indicating that he suffered “a fracture of the L4 vertebra” during Afghanistan’s recent tour of Zimbabwe. Ghazanfar, who secured his first IPL contract following a promising start to his ODI career, will be out of the game for four months.
Until November of last year, Mujeeb was also on the sidelines for five months due to a right phalanx (hand) sprain. He made his comeback at the Abu Dhabi T10 and subsequently played all three T20Is for Afghanistan during their tour of Zimbabwe, before heading to South Africa for the SA20. Afghanistan did not select him for the Champions Trophy, as stated by Ahmad Suliman Khil, their interim chief selector, who mentioned that “he has been advised by his doctor to concentrate on T20s for a while to ensure his complete recovery before returning to ODIs”.
Mujeeb went unsold at the IPL 2025 auction but has now signed with MI for a fee of INR 2 crore (approximately US $230,764).