In​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ the span of less than a year, AM Ghazanfar, the young mystery spinner of Afghanistan who has been rising rapidly in international cricket, is now dreaming of being retained by the Mumbai Indians for the 2026 IPL season. He is uncertain about his future with the five-time champions of the IPL but just in case Hardik Pandya’s support and leadership won’t be with him always.

Last season, Ghazanfar was supposed to debut for Mumbai in the IPL but due to a back injury, he had to withdraw from the tournament. With the retention deadline coming up on Saturday, the 19-year-old doesn’t know where he stands and is therefore eagerly awaiting a ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌response.

AM Ghazanfar on Pandya’s support, injury setback and Test debut

“Despite the injury, Hardik bhai stayed in touch and motivated me a lot. Even Tilak and I had long chats about the game. I hope Hardik bhai is my captain again this year,” Ghazanfar, who will represent Afghanistan in the Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha, told PTI.
The teenager has made his debut across formats in the last 18 months and appears in the Rising Stars tournament for the second consecutive year.

He first gained attention through his mystery spin in Afghanistan’s local T20 leagues, quickly earning a place in the national side—a testament to the country’s strong spin culture. The past year has been hectic for Ghazanfar, who has travelled constantly for franchise cricket around the world. He even made an unexpected Test debut against Zimbabwe last December, which doubled as his maiden first-class match.

His body struggled with the workload of a long-format debut, especially after bowling over 30 overs on a flat pitch.
“I played a lot of cricket back-to-back last season—one tournament after another, seven or eight in total. When the Test match came, my body wasn’t ready for the extra load. Now I’ve fully recovered and become much wiser,” he said.

As a mystery spinner, Ghazanfar depends heavily on backspin, googlies and the carrom ball. He intentionally avoids bowling standard off-spin.
“I don’t see myself as an off-spinner because I don’t bowl off-spin a lot. T20 cricket favours batters, and spinners don’t get much help. In the IPL especially, you rarely get turn. Off-breaks sit up nicely for batters, but leg-breaks and mystery spin skid and allow more variation. Mystery is better,” he explained.

Asked why Afghanistan keeps producing so many unconventional spinners, he pointed to the local cricketing ecosystem:
“Some countries develop fast bowlers or top batters. We just have a lot of spinners in domestic cricket—that’s why we’re strong internationally.”

Growing up, Ghazanfar studied videos of Sunil Narine and R Ashwin, and he eventually got the chance to meet Ashwin during a stint with KKR.
“He’s very experienced and shared a lot with me. I’m thankful. Even though I didn’t play in the IPL, it taught me how to perform under extreme pressure.”

While he wants to play more red-ball cricket after his accidental Test debut, his heart still leans towards the shortest format.
“I like Tests, but I want to play T20s more,” he said.

(By PTI Inputs)