Afghanistan offspinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman has replaced his compatriot AM Ghazanfar in the Mumbai Indians (MI) squad for IPL 2025. Ghazanfar, sidelined due to a back injury, will miss both the Champions Trophy starting Wednesday and the upcoming IPL season. The Afghanistan Cricket Board confirmed that Ghazanfar sustained a fracture in his L4 vertebra during Afghanistan’s Zimbabwe tour last month, ruling him out for four months.
Mujeeb, last seen in the IPL in 2021 with Sunrisers Hyderabad, made his tournament debut in 2018 for Punjab Kings, playing 18 matches over three seasons. He has taken 275 T20 wickets at an average of 23.67 and an economy of 6.75. Recently, Mujeeb was part of Paarl Royals in the SA20, where he was the team’s highest wicket-taker with 14 wickets in 12 matches, though they lost to Sunrisers Eastern Cape in Qualifier 2.
Mujeeb had also battled injuries, missing five months of cricket due to a hand sprain until November last year. He made his comeback at the Abu Dhabi T10, followed by Afghanistan’s T20I series against Zimbabwe, before joining SA20. Despite going unsold at the IPL 2025 auction, MI signed him for INR 2 crore (approx. USD 230,764). Afghanistan’s interim chief selector Ahmad Suliman Khil mentioned that Mujeeb was advised to focus on T20 cricket for now to ensure complete recovery before returning to ODIs. His experience and skill will bolster MI’s spin attack in IPL 2025.
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