Hyderabad: Five-time Mumbai Indians champions have signed Afghanistan's mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman as a replacement for injured spinner Allah Ghazanfar for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Mujeeb, who has represented Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, made his IPL debut in the 2018 season. He was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the auctions but was ruled out of the IPL due to an injury. Coincidentally, he was replaced in the KKR squad in 2018 by Ghazanfar.
Mumbai bought rising sensation, the 18-year-old Ghazanfar for a whooping 4.8 Crore rupees after a bidding war with KKR and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). However, the young spinner sustained an injury during Afghanistan's tour of Zimbabwe and was subsequently ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and now the upcoming IPL season. Notably, he is yet to make his IPL debut.
🆕 in town: ✨ 𝕄𝕦𝕛𝕖𝕖𝕓'𝕤 𝕄𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔 ✨ #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/YIPnK0uJsQ
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 16, 2025
Mujeeb has played 4 seasons so far in the IPL. He has picked up a total of 19 wickets in the competition and hasn't played a single game since the 2021 season.
📰 𝗠𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗮𝗶 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝗷𝗲𝗲𝗯 𝗨𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻 🇦🇫
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) February 16, 2025
Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the Afghan off spinner has been signed by Mumbai Indians as a replacement for Allah Ghazanfar who has been ruled out of IPL 2025 due to an injury.
Mujeeb was one of the youngest ever… pic.twitter.com/urNJhbfVl7
"Mumbai Indians picked Mujeeb-ur-Rahman as a replacement for Allah Ghazanfar for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025."
🚨 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🚨
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 16, 2025
Mujeeb-ur-Rahman replaces Allah Ghazanfar in Mumbai Indians.
Details 🔽 #TATAIPL | @mipaltanhttps://t.co/GFwvoaUxhR
"Allah Ghazanfar is ruled out 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," read the statement from IPL's website.
Despite his outstanding performances in the recently concluded SA20 league, Mujeeb wasn't considered for the Champions Trophy. He was the joint second leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 14 wickets to his name, leaking runs at an economy 6.77.
"Mujeeb was one of the youngest ever players to have represented Afghanistan and made an instant impact with the ball leading to an IPL debut at the age of 17. Mujeeb has played over 300 T20 (international and domestic) games taking closer to 330 wickets at an economy of around 6.5. Mumbai Indians wish Ghazanfar a speedy recovery and a warm welcome to Mujeeb into the #OneFamily," read the statement from MI.
