Nabi's remarkable journey

Leicestershire Foxes and Afghanistan star Mohammad Nabi’s journey into professional and then international cricket has been nothing short of remarkable.

The 33-year-old hails from a family that moved to Pakistan, seeking a safe haven from the Soviet War in Afghanistan. To complete a remarkable story, the all-rounder recently played in Afghanistan's inaugural test match against India.

Nabi took up cricket at the age of 10 while living in Peshawar. Honing his skills with endless sessions of tennis ball cricket, he managed to begin training at Arshad Khan's academy.

The all-rounder made his competitive debut against Rahim Yar Khan Cricket Association in Pakistan's erstwhile Cornelius Trophy in 2003. He scored 61 having just met most of his teammates.

Interestingly for Nabi, he was never encouraged to play cricket as a youngster, with his family not believing it could provide a sustainable living. Instead his parents emphasised he focuses on studying with a end goal of a long working career.

Nabi said: “My family actually didn’t allow me to play cricket because they wanted me to focus on my studies growing up as they didn’t feel there was a future in cricket in Afghanistan. There was no national team and the country was plagued in war.

“One of my friends who lived nearby called Shai, he saw me with a tennis ball and said I have a lot of talent and that I must join a club, which turned out to be a brilliant decision."

In fact, the off-spinner wasn’t even aware his national side had a team until the late 1990s. “During the Taliban reign from 1996 to 1998 there was a team but they played very little cricket," said Nabi. "In 1997 they toured Pakistan playing against the districts which is when I knew about Afghanistan cricket.”

It was in 2002 having played some domestic cricket in Pakistan that Nabi was invited to represent his native side. The nation was still war-torn when Nabi started, so the thought of playing in World Cups and a Test Match never even crossed his mind; he was just grateful to be playing cricket for a living.

He said “There were trials for the national team which I was invited to and then I got into the side and I haven’t looked back since then.

“Most families couldn’t afford kit; my brother looked after me to buy kit. Financially it is a big problem for every player most guys come from families that had nothing. I was lucky that my family had some money and they even supported some players even on tour as Afghanistan cricket had no money.

“The process and the talent was good but whenever we played in ICC competitions the only option was to win and that continued as we went up the divisons.

"There was very little happiness in Afghanistan and very little other sport we were able to put a smile on faces and people began to love cricket.

“The rise of the Afghanistan team was incredible and in 2010 we were in the T20 World Cup I had the biggest goose bumps ever, and I wanted to cry when the national anthems started. We had no proper facilities still so it was a huge moment for me in my life.

"It was the biggest moment of my life and after that we qualify for the 2015 World Cup and now we have achieved Test status as well. We’ve achieved so much in such a short period of time: 2008 ODI status, then Test status in 2017.”

Nowadays, cricket in Afghanistan is in good health. Afghanistan's players have played cricket all over the world - and none have played in more competitions than Nabi.

So far he has played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well as many others, including the Vitality Blast, which Nabi rates on the same level as the IPL and BBL. 

Nabi said: “We have a good structure, that includes domestic cricket, we play four-day cricket, one day and T20 cricket as well as it being played in schools. We’re enjoying the new talents as you can see with the other two players in the Blast, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman."

“All around the world the levels of cricket are different. I’ve played all across the world the Blast compares to the IPL & BBL in standard although they’re very different, in the way the game is played in all three tournaments.

"I've really enjoyed my time at the Foxes so far. The chase of 218 at Northampton was incredible, and I think that was my favourite moment so far but hopefully we have lots more brilliant moments to come.

"We have a big week of games coming up, starting with Yorkshire and then two more games in two days. The support has been brilliant so far and it will be nice to see our supporters again on Thursday against Birmingham Bears. We had a great game at Birmingham and want to produce the same on Thursday in front of our own fans."

* See the Foxes in our next Vitality Blast home game against Birmingham Bears on Thursday! The best value tickets are available in advance – a family ticket for 2 adults and 3 under 16s is available for £37 before 11.59pm tonight. Secure your seat today HERE