Hazratullah Zazai

Hazratullah Zazai is an Afghan cricketer who represents the Afghanistan Men's National Cricket Team in international cricket. He plays as an opening batsman and bats left-handed. The highlight of his career was when he scored 162 not out of just 62 balls in a T20 International match against Ireland, in February 2019. This is the highest score by an Afghan batsman in T20 cricket.

Player Background

Hazratullah was born on March 23, 1998, in Paktia, Afghanistan. Hazratullah bats left-handed and bowls slow left-arm orthodox.

International Career

Hazratullah made his international debut at a Twenty20 International match against the United Arab Emirates on December 16, 2016. His One Day International debut for Afghanistan came much later in 2018 against Ireland.

Career Highlights

In 2018, Hazratullah scored the fastest T20I fifty by an Afghan cricketer, in 22 balls in a match against Ireland. In 2019, he scored 162 not out, contributing to Afghanistan's mammoth score of 278 for 3 wickets, the highest ever T20I score. He scored his first century in this T20I match, the highest by an Afghan and only the second highest T20I score in the world behind Aaron Finch's 172. This innings of his included a record of 16 sixes. Also, his first-wicket partnership with Usman Ghani was also a record for any wicket in a T20I, with 236 runs scored.

Domestic Career

In domestic cricket, Hazratullah plays for the Amount Sharks. He made his List A debut for Amo Region on August 10, 2017, in the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament. 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, Hazratullah got selected in Kabul Zwanan's squad, in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament. With 322 runs in ten matches, Zazai ended the tournament as the leading run-scorer for Kabul Zwanan in the tournament.

In October 2018, bought Dhaka Dynamites team, for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.

Achievements in Domestic Cricket

On October 14, 2018, Zazai hit six sixes in one over, in the match against Balkh Legends. He also equaled the record for the fastest fifty in Twenty20 cricket, which was out of from twelve balls.

In April 2019, Hazratullah Zazai was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Career Statistics