APL Career
Mujeeb Ur Rahman joins Akcel United Kabul as their first Gold pick of the 2026 draft,
signed at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026 for a reported US$40,000. He is
one of a handful of Gold picks with an APL season already behind him, and one of the
most experienced spinners in the draft pool. Akcel, captained by Azmatullah Omarzai and
coached by Shane McDermott with Nikhil Chopra as mentor, have bought a bowler who has
taken wickets in every major T20 league on the planet.
His APL past is real, and it belongs to a different club. In the inaugural 2018 season
he played for Nangarhar Leopards, taking 12 wickets in nine matches to finish as the
Leopards' joint-leading wicket-taker. His best day came against Kandahar Knights on 13
October 2018, when he took 4 for 16 and then made an unbeaten 16 with the bat — both
T20 career bests at the time. Nangarhar reached the semi-final, where Balkh Legends
bowled them out for 64; Mujeeb went wicketless for 51 in three overs on a night when
nothing went right for the Leopards. Akcel United Kabul are a new club for 2026, not a
continuation of the 2018 Kabul Zwanan, so nothing from that season carries over —
except Mujeeb's memory of Sharjah.
The 2026 season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE, with the fixture list still to
be published. Mujeeb has no 2026 figures yet — the tables below will fill in once the
first ball is bowled. What he brings is a proven new-ball weapon: a mystery spinner
who opens the bowling, bowls in the powerplay and at the death, and has spent eight
years doing it against the best batters in the world.
Playing style and strengths
Mujeeb is a mystery spinner in the truest sense: a right-arm off-break bowler whose
stock ball is only the starting point. The carrom ball, flicked out of the front of the
hand, is his signature weapon — the delivery that bowled Ben McDermott with his first
ball at the Gabba — and he mixes it with a leg-break, a googly and a quicker arm ball
that skids on. He learned the variations young, squeezing a tennis ball between his
fingers as a boy in Khost and studying Ajantha Mendis on YouTube, and the result is a
bowler batters struggle to read even after facing him for years. His strength is not
big turn but nagging accuracy: he bowls a full length, attacks the stumps, and concedes
6.74 runs an over across 70 T20 internationals.
Captains use him where the game is won and lost: with the new ball in the powerplay,
where his accuracy strangles openers, and at the death, where his variations are hardest
to hit. He has opened the bowling for Afghanistan since he was 16, and franchises from
Brisbane to Barbados have trusted him with the same job. With the bat he is a
lower-order hitter rather than a batter, but he has won matches with cameos, most
memorably the unbeaten 16 that nearly stole the 2018 APL game against Kandahar. In the
field he is sharp and athletic, with 17 T20I catches to his name.
Career outside APL
Mujeeb grew up in Khost, in a household far from the war-torn backgrounds of many of his
team-mates — the Cricbuzz profile calls his the trend-breaker among Afghan cricket
stories. He fell for cricket watching the 2012 World T20, taught himself spin by
squeezing a tennis ball between his fingers, and honed his variations at the academy run
by his cousin, former international Noor Ali Zadran. His rise was fast: a List A debut
for Speen Ghar Region in August 2017, a T20 debut for Boost Defenders in the Shpageeza
League a month later, and then the Under-19 Asia Cup in November, where his 20 wickets
and 5 for 13 in the final against Pakistan won Afghanistan their first title and made
him Player of the Series. Two months later he took 4 for 14 against New Zealand in the
Under-19 World Cup quarter-final as Afghanistan reached the semi-finals.
The senior debut came a fortnight after the Asia Cup final: 4 for 24 against Ireland at
Sharjah on 5 December 2017, Player of the Match in a 138-run win. Two months later he
took the youngest ODI five-for in history, and by June 2018 he had played Afghanistan's
first Test, against India in Bengaluru. He was 17. In between he took 17 wickets at the
2018 World Cup Qualifier — joint-most in the tournament — as Afghanistan won it and
booked a place at the 2019 World Cup. At the 2021 T20 World Cup he took 5 for 20 against
Scotland, the first five-for by an Afghan at the tournament. He was in Afghanistan's
squad at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, and returned for the 2026 T20 World Cup after
a finger injury had kept him out since mid-2025, taking five wickets in four matches.
In October 2018, during the first APL season, his age became a story in itself. A
newspaper interview with former Afghanistan coach Rashid Latif said Latif had spotted
"Mujeeb" at a senior camp in Kabul in 2010 — which would have been impossible for a
player born in March 2001. The claim spread quickly, but it lasted a day: Latif
clarified that the name he had mentioned was "Najeeb, not Mujeeb", and that a writer's
error had caused the confusion. The correction was published the next day, and the
matter ended there.
The IPL came calling first. Kings XI Punjab bought him for Rs 4 crore at the 2018
auction, and on 8 April 2018, aged 17 years and 11 days, he became the youngest player
to appear in the tournament at the time. He took 14 wickets in 11 matches that season
at under seven an over, then three in five in 2019 and none in two in 2020. Sunrisers
Hyderabad bought him for Rs 1.5 crore in 2021 for a single appearance, and in 2025
Mumbai Indians signed him as an injury replacement for AM Ghazanfar — Rs 2 crore, one
match against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, 1 for 28 in two overs, with his debut cap
presented by Rohit Sharma. Across the IPL he has 20 wickets in 20 matches. In Australia
he was just as effective: 12 wickets in 12 matches for Brisbane Heat in 2018-19 at a
league-best economy of 6.04, the club's Player of the Season, then 14 more in BBL|10,
including the 5 for 15 against Hobart Hurricanes. A positive COVID test on arrival for
BBL|10 meant 14 days in a Gold Coast hospital before his first game; he still finished
the season as the Heat's second-leading wicket-taker. He later played a season for
Melbourne Renegades.
Almost every T20 league has had a Mujeeb season. In the Caribbean Premier League he was
the joint-top wicket-taker of the 2020 tournament with 16 wickets for Jamaica Tallawahs,
making the team of the tournament, and he returned for Barbados Royals in 2022 and 2026.
He played three PSL seasons for Peshawar Zalmi, four BPL stints with Comilla Victorians,
Cumilla Warriors, Fortune Barishal and Rangpur Riders, and the 2021 Hundred for Northern
Superchargers, taking six wickets at 7.24. In England he played the T20 Blast for
Hampshire in 2018 and Middlesex in 2019 — seven wickets in ten games at 7.23 — returning
to Lord's in 2020 and 2021. He has also played the ILT20 for Gulf Giants and Dubai
Capitals, the LPL for B-Love Kandy and, in 2026, Colombo Kaps, where he was the platinum
overseas pick and took 13 wickets, and the SA20 for Paarl Royals.
The last two years have been stop-start. A finger injury in mid-2025 kept him out of the
Champions Trophy, and he was still recovering when Afghanistan named their squad for the
Ireland ODI series in August 2026 — he missed that series and the UAE ODI tri-series
that followed in October. But the T20 game has kept him busy: five wickets at the 2026
T20 World Cup, six in three T20Is against West Indies in January 2026, 13 wickets for
Colombo Kaps in the LPL and eight for Mis Ainak Knights in the Shpageeza League in July
2026, and two more in the Caribbean Premier League for Barbados. A wicketless three-match
T20I series in India in September 2026 was a reminder that even mystery spin has off
days; he answered it with 2 for 27 in the first T20I against Zimbabwe in Sharjah on 27
October 2026. As of 31 October 2026 his international figures stand at one Test and one
wicket, 75 ODIs and 101 wickets, and 70 T20Is and 89 wickets.
FAQs
Which team does Mujeeb Ur Rahman play for in APL 2026?
Mujeeb Ur Rahman plays for Akcel United Kabul in APL T20 2026. He was picked in the
Gold category at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a reported
US$40,000. Akcel are captained by Azmatullah Omarzai, coached by Shane McDermott
and mentored by Nikhil Chopra, and the season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE.
Did Mujeeb Ur Rahman play in the first APL season in 2018?
Yes. Mujeeb played the inaugural 2018 season for Nangarhar Leopards, taking 12
wickets in nine matches to finish as the Leopards' joint-leading wicket-taker. His
best figures were 4 for 16 against Kandahar Knights, and he played the semi-final
against Balkh Legends. APL 2026 is his second season in the competition, and his
first for Akcel United Kabul.
What is Mujeeb Ur Rahman's youngest-player record?
Mujeeb took 5 for 50 against Zimbabwe at Sharjah on 16 February 2018, aged 16
years and 325 days, to become the youngest player ever to take a five-wicket haul
in an ODI. The record is recognised by Guinness World Records, and the mark he beat
belonged to Waqar Younis, who was 18 years and 164 days old. He was also the first
male cricketer born in the 21st century to play international cricket.
What are Mujeeb Ur Rahman's international figures?
As of 31 October 2026, Mujeeb has played one Test and taken one wicket, played 75
ODIs and taken 101 wickets at 28.34 with a best of 5 for 50, and played 70 T20Is
and taken 89 wickets at 19.58 with a best of 5 for 20. His Test debut came in
Afghanistan's inaugural Test against India in June 2018, and his only Test remains
that match.
Which franchise leagues has Mujeeb Ur Rahman played in?
Mujeeb has played in the IPL for Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai
Indians, in the Big Bash for Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Renegades, and in the CPL,
PSL, BPL, SA20, ILT20 and LPL. He has also played The Hundred for Northern
Superchargers and the T20 Blast for Hampshire and Middlesex, and he plays domestic
cricket for Mis Ainak Knights in the Shpageeza League.
