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Ibrahim Zadran smashed a record-breaking century in a Champions Trophy match on Wednesday to help set up a thrilling win for Afghanistan against England.
Ibrahim Zadran has an average of 51.06 after 35 ODIs. (AP Photo)
England pacer Jofra Archer had left Afghanistan wobbling by landing three blows inside the Powerplay. Afghanistan, after opting to bat first in their second match of the Champions Trophy, were on the backfoot on Wednesday. 23-year-old Ibrahim Zadran took it upon himself to arrest the slide and guide his team not just out of trouble but also put them in a dominant spot from where they began their push for a thrilling eight-run win.
Meet Zadran, Afghanistan’s rising star who is going through a revival of sorts after spending just over two years on the sidelines following his ODI debut in 2019.
On Wednesday, he broke the Champions Trophy record for the highest ever individual total by a batter set a few days ago by England’s Ben Duckett.
Zadran scored a majestic 177 off 146, an innings that featured 12 fours and six sixes and fell in the final over before Afghanistan finished with 325/7 from their 50 overs.
Born on December 12, 2001, in Kabul, Zadran grew up playing cricket alongside his Afghanistan teammate Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman. In an interview to Cricbuzz, the top-order batter said as a kid, he played cricket in garden with his family members. After watching Afghanistan make their ICC tournament debut at the 2010 T20 World Cup, he began seriously pursuing cricket, joining an academy.
Zadran watched plenty of international cricket to hone his skills learning from the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara and current stars like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
| Format | Matches | Runs | Average | 100s | 50s | Strike-Rate |
| Test | 7 | 541 | 38.64 | 1 | 4 | 46.96 |
| ODI | 35 | 1634 | 51.06 | 6 | 7 | 83.15 |
| T20I | 44 | 1105 | 29.07 | 0 | 8 | 107.28 |
Zadran’s international career (till date)
Zadran was part of Afghanistan’s two U19 World Cup campaigns and he started making waves soon enough.
After an unremarkable ODI debut against West Indies in Lucknow in November 2019, his next appearance in the format came in February 2022. During the time away from the national side, he worked on his physical and mental fitness.
Once back into the national setup, he made a roaring comeback, peeling off four hundreds between June 2022 and July 2023. And he hasn’t looked back since.
He was named ICC Emerging Cricketer Of The Year in 2022.
Zadran is known for his technical skills and ability to absorb pressure and he gave an example of it on Wednesday becoming the first ever Afghan batter to score a century in Champions Trophy.
