Encouraged by captain Hardik after injury setback, Ghazanfar hopes to be retained by MI

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) Having made rapid strides in international cricket over the past 12 months, Afghanistan mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar is hoping to be retained by Mumbai Indians for the 2026 IPL and irrespective of what future holds for him with the storied franchise, words of encouragement from Hardik Pandya will stay with him for a long time.

Ghazanfar was supposed to make his IPL debut with the Mumbai Indians last season but a back injury ruled him out of the tournament. With the retention deadline on Saturday, he is keeping his fingers crossed.

"Despite the injury, Hardik bhai remained in touch with me and motivated me a lot. Even with Tilak I had long chats about the game. I hope this year too Hardik bhai is my captain," Ghazanar, who would be representing Afghanistan in Rising Stars Asia Cup in Doha, told PTI.

Having made debut across formats in the last 18 months, the 19-year-old is featuring in the tournament for the second year in a row.

He rose to prominence with his mystery spin in the local T20 league back home and in no time found himself representing the country, an indication of the rich spin talent available in Afghanistan.

It is a busy year for Ghazanfar who literally lived out of a suitcase playing franchise cricket around the world. Last December, he got a call to make his Test debut against Zimbabwe, which also happened to be his maiden first class game. His body could not take the load of Test cricket as he sent down more than 30 overs on a placid pitch. "I played lot of a cricket back to back last season. It was one tournament to another and seven to eight tournaments in total. When the Test match came my body was not ready for the extra load. I have fully recovered now and a lot wiser." As a mystery spinner, Ghazanfar relies a lot on backspin, googly and carrom ball for wickets. On purpose, he hardly bowls off-spin and he has his reasons for that.

"I don't look at myself as an off-spinner as I don't bowl off spin a lot. T20 is a batter's game now, spinners don't get a lot of help on pitches. Perfect example is IPL where you don't get a lot of spin tracks.

"Off break easily comes to bat. Leg break can be tricky and with mystery, the balls skids and you can vary your pace. Mystery is better," he said.

Any specific reason why Afghanistan keep unearthing mystery spinners? "If you look, some countries have good fast bowlers, some have good batters, similarly we have a lot of spinners in domestic cricket. That is why we are strong at the international level," Ghazanfar reasoned.

Growing up, he learned a lot by watching videos of Sunil Narine and R Ashwin. He was fortunate to meet Ashwin during a stint with KKR in the IPL.

"He is a very experienced bowler. He shared his rich experience with me. Thankful him for that. IPL taught me to perform under extreme pressure even though I did not get to play." Having made an accidental Test debut, Ghazanfar wants to play more red ball cricket but he doesn't hide his love for the shortest format.

"I like Tests but I want to play T20s more," he added.

(Watch DP World Asia Cup Rising Stars 2025 - Sri Lanka A vs. Afghanistan A on 15th November 2025 from 5 PM IST live on Sony Sports Ten 1 SD & HD). PTI BS KHS KHS