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Hazratullah Zazai (Pashto: حضرت الله ځاځی; born 23 March 1998) is an Afghan cricketer. He made his international debut for the Afghanistan cricket team in December 2016. In February 2019, he scored an unbeaten 162 runs off 62 balls against Ireland, which is the highest individual score by an Afghan batsman in a Twenty20 International.

Domestic and T20 franchise career

He made his List A debut for Amo Region in the 2017 Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament on 10 August 2017. He made his first-class debut for Band-e-Amir Region in the 2017–18 Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament on 20 October 2017.

In September 2018, he was named in Kabul Zwanan's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament. On 14 October 2018, in the match against Balkh Legends, Zazai hit six sixes in one over. In the process, Zazai also equalled the record for the fastest fifty in Twenty20 cricket, from twelve balls. He was the leading run-scorer for Kabul Zwanan in the tournament, with 322 runs in ten matches.

In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the Dhaka Dynamites team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Rajshahi Royals in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League. In October 2020, he was drafted by the Galle Gladiators for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.

International career

He made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut against the United Arab Emirates on 16 December 2016. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Ireland on 27 August 2018.

In August 2018, against Ireland, he scored the fastest T20I fifty by an Afghan cricketer, in 22 balls. In February 2019, in the second T20I match against Ireland, he scored 162 not out, his first century in a T20I match. It was the highest score for an Afghan batsman in a T20I match, and the second highest score overall, behind Aaron Finch's 172. His innings included a record 16 sixes, and his first-wicket partnership with Usman Ghani was also a record for any wicket in a T20I, with 236 runs scored. Afghanistan finished their innings with 278 runs for the loss of three wickets, the highest total in a T20I match.

In April 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. In September 2021, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.

In May 2024, he was named as a reserve player in Afghanistan’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.

References

1. "Hazratullah Zazai". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
2. "Hazratullah Zazai 162*, Afghanistan 278 - a record-breaking T20I". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
3. "2nd Match, Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament at Khost, Aug 10, 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
4. "1st Match, Alokozay Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament at Amanullah, Oct 20-23 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
5. "Afghanistan Premier League 2018 – All you need to know from the player draft". CricTracker. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
6. "Hazratullah Zazai smashes six sixes in an over in front of 'idol' Gayle". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
7. "Hazratullah Zazai becomes third to hit six sixes in an over in T20s". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
8. "Afghanistan Premier League, 2018/19 - Kabul Zwanan: Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
9. "Full players list of the teams following Players Draft of BPL T20 2018-19". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
10. "BPL draft: Tamim Iqbal to team up with coach Mohammad Salahuddin for Dhaka". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
11. "Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Shahid Afridi among big names taken at LPL draft". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
12. "Afghanistan tour of United Arab Emirates, 2nd T20I: United Arab Emirates v Afghanistan at Dubai (DSC), Dec 16, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
13. "1st ODI, Afghanistan Tour of Ireland at Belfast, Aug 27 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
14. "Zazai's 33-ball 74 sets up Afghanistan victory over Ireland". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
15. ^ "Hazratullah Zazai cuts loose, Afghanistan demolish Ireland, T20I record books". Cricket Country. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
16. "Hazratullah Zazai's night to remember". CricBuzz. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
17. "Hamid Hassan picked in Afghanistan's World Cup squad; Naib to captain". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
18. "Asghar Afghan included in Gulbadin Naib-led World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
19. "Rashid Khan steps down as Afghanistan captain over team selection". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
20. "Afghanistan's squad for the ICC Men's T20I World Cup". ScoreWaves. Retrieved 7 June 2024.

External links

• Hazratullah Zazai at ESPNcricinfo

Afghanistan squads

v t e Afghanistan squad – 2019 Cricket World Cup 1 Najibullah 3 Hazratullah 7 Nabi 8 Rahmat 10 Dawlat 11 Gulbadin (c) 15 Noor 19 Rashid (vc) 44 Afghan 45 Shinwari 50 Hashmatullah 55 Aftab 66 Hassan 77 Shahzad (wk) 88 Mujeeb Coach: Simmons v t e Afghanistan squad – 2024 Men's T20 World Cup semi-finalists 1 N. Zadran 5 Farooqi 7 Nabi 9 Omarzai 11 Janat 12 Kharoti 14 Naib 15 N. Ahmad 18 I. Zadran 19 Rashid (c) 21 Gurbaz (wk) 56 F. Ahmad 33 Ishaq (wk) 78 Naveen 88 Mujeeb Coach: Jonathan Trott Sediqullah Atal, Mohammad Saleem and Hazratullah Zazai as standby players for the team.

• 1998 births
• Living people
• Afghan cricketers
• 21st-century Afghan sportsmen
• Afghanistan One Day International cricketers
• Afghanistan Twenty20 International cricketers
• Amo Sharks cricketers
• Band-e-Amir Dragons cricketers
• People from Paktia Province
• Kabul Zwanan cricketers
• Dhaka Dominators cricketers
• Cricketers at the 2019 Cricket World Cup
• Galle Gladiators cricketers
• Peshawar Zalmi cricketers
• Guyana Amazon Warriors cricketers