Mohammad Nabi

Mohammad Nabi Eisakhil (Pashto: محمد نبي عیسی خېل; born 1 January 1985) is an Afghan cricketer and former captain of the Afghanistan national cricket team. Nabi is an attacking batting all-rounder, playing as a right-handed batsman and off-break bowler.

He played a major role in Afghanistan's rise to the top level of international cricket, playing in both their first One Day International in April 2009 and their first Test match in June 2018. He was also part of Afghanistan's first T20I team which played against Ireland on 1 February 2010 and became the fifth cap of Afghanistan national team in Twenty20 Internationals. Nabi was also part of Afghanistan's first T20 World Cup team which played the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. He captained the side during their appearances in the 2014 Asia Cup and the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Nabi has also played in numerous Twenty20 franchise tournaments and was the first player from Afghanistan to be selected in the Indian Premier League player auction. As of June 2024, Nabi holds a unique record of having been an integral part of Afghanistan side in defeating 45 different nations in across all international cricket.

In September 2019, Nabi retired from Test cricket with the stated aim to prolong his limited overs cricket career. In August 2020, Nabi was inducted as a member of the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

Nabi was born in Logar Province in Afghanistan into a prosperous industrial family. His family moved to Peshawar in Pakistan, fleeing from the Soviet–Afghan War. He started playing cricket in Peshawar at the age of 10, and his family moved back to Afghanistan in 2000, where he began playing cricket with Mohammad Shahzad, Asghar Afghan and Shapoor Zadran, all of whom would later become important members of the Afghan national team. Nabi played his first competitive match in 2003 for an Afghanistan team against the Rahim Yar Khan Cricket Association. Afghanistan's team was poor, but Nabi top-scored for the team with 61 runs. During this time Afghanistan didn't have their own cricket gear and had to rely on buying it from Pakistan and India.

In 2006, Nabi played for Afghanistan in a tour match against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Mumbai, India. He top-scored for Afghanistan with 116 in a big win, and was noticed by former English Test captain Mike Gatting. Nabi was then included in the MCC's Young Cricketers programme in England. While with the MCC Nabi made his first-class debut in a tour match against Sri Lanka A in 2007, top-scoring for his team in the first innings with 43 runs. Following this he played domestic cricket in Pakistan for Pakistan Customs, making his List A debut against National Bank of Pakistan on 20 March 2008 during the ABN-AMRO Cup.

Mohammad was part of Afghanistan's "staggering" rise from Division Five of the World Cricket League to One Day International status. This began in the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Five, which Afghanistan won. Nabi played in all seven of Afghanistan's matches for the tournament, scoring 108 runs and taking 10 wickets, the second-most for Afghanistan in each. This success was followed by the 2008 ICC World Cricket League Division Four, which Afghanistan also won. Nabi was named the man of the tournament, having taken 14 wickets at an average of 5.35 and scored 154 runs at an average of 25.66.

Nabi was also in Afghanistan's team for the 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, which they won to progress to the 2009 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. Though Afghanistan did not qualify for the 2011 Cricket World Cup, they did achieve One Day International (ODI) status, and their final match of the tournament, the fifth-place play-off against Scotland, was the country's first ever ODI. Nabi scored 58 to get his maiden ODI half-century on his ODI debut, a match which Afghanistan won. He was named player of the match.

Nabi played his first first-class match for Afghanistan in the 2009–10 ICC Intercontinental Cup against a Zimbabwe XI, scoring a century and taking 3/90 in the first innings. He continued to be an important part of Afghanistan's team in the Intercontinental Cup, and also played a crucial role for the team in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, through which Afghanistan qualified for the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.