Naveen-ul-Haq

Naveen-ul-Haq Murid (born 23 September 1999) is a cricketer who made his international debut for Afghanistan in September 2016.

Domestic and T20 franchise career

Naveen made his first-class debut for Kabul Region in the 2018 Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament on 7 March 2018.

In September 2018, Naveen was named in Nangarhar's squad in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Sylhet Thunder in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League. In July 2020, he was named in the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League. In October 2020, he was drafted by the Kandy Tuskers for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.

In February 2021, Naveen was signed by the Leicestershire Foxes ahead of the 2021 T20 Blast tournament in England. In October 2021, he was resigned by Leicestershire for the 2022 summer in England. In June 2022, in the T20 Blast match against the Worcestershire Rapids, he took his first five-wicket haul in Twenty20 cricket, with 5/11 from his four overs. The following month, he was signed by the Colombo Stars for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League. In December 2022, he was bought by the Lucknow Super Giants in the 2023 Indian Premier League auction.

International career

Naveen made his One Day International (ODI) debut against Bangladesh on 25 September 2016. Prior to his ODI debut, he was part of Afghanistan's squad for the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In December 2016, he was the captain for Afghanistan in the 2016 Under-19 Asia Cup.

Naveen made his Twenty20 (T20) debut for Afghanistan against Namibia on 19 January 2017 in the 2017 Desert T20 Challenge.

In December 2017, Naveen was named as the captain of Afghanistan's squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

In August 2019, Naveen was named in Afghanistan's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for the 2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series. He made his T20I debut for Afghanistan, against Bangladesh, on 21 September 2019. 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 in Afghanistan’s squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. As of the start of the Semi-finals, Naveen has the 5th most wickets in the tournament. In Afghanistan's first match of the tournament, against Uganda, he took 2 wickets at the economy rates of just 2.00. In Afghanistan's second match of the tournament, against New Zealand, he did not take any wickets, but bowled 3 overs at the economy of just 3.33. In Afghanistan's third match of the tournament against Papua New Guinea, he took 2 wickets and bowled 2.5 overs at the economy of only 1.41. In Afghanistan's fourth match against West Indies, he took 1 wicket and bowled 4 overs at the costly economy of 10.25. In Afghanistan's first match of the Super 8, against India, he took 1 wicket and bowled 4 overs, again at the costly economy of 10.00. In Afghanistan's second match of the Super 8, against Australia he took 3 wickets, and bowled 4 overs at the economy of 4.00. In Afghanistan's last match of the Super 8, against Bangladesh, he took 4 wickets, and bowled 3.5 overs at the economy of 6.78. In this match, he was named the POTM, due to his 2 crucial wickets at the end of the match. Bangladesh needed 12 runs off 12 balls at the end of the game, and took 2 important wickets, propelling Afghanistan into the semi-finals.

Retirement

Naveen announced that he would retire from ODI cricket after the ICC 2023 Cricket World Cup.

On 27 September 2023, Naveen posted a post on Instagram related to his retirement.

Naveen, posting a picture in World Cup kit, told his fans that he would retire from ODI after playing in the World Cup but would still continue to play T20I.

Naveen stated “It has been an absolute honour to represent my country would like to announce my retirement from ODI format at end of this World Cup and will continue to wear this blue jersey in t20 cricket for my country it hasn’t been an easy decision to make but to prolong my playing career had to take this tough decision would like to thank @afghanistancricketboard And all my fans for their support and unwavering love".

References

External links

• Naveen-ul-Haq at ESPNcricinfo