“IPL contract just around the corner for Najib,” Virender Sehwag very impressed with Afghanistan left hander
Najibullah Zadran scored 73 off Afghanistan's 124 runs against New Zealand
The Indian legend Virender Sehwag reckons Afghanistan left-hander Najibullah Zadran might get a bid in the upcoming IPL mega auction. Najib played a high-class knock of 73 in a must-win game in the T20 World Cup against New Zealand on a surface that was used and was not playing as well as some of the other surfaces in Abu Dhabi.
If not for Najib’s extraordinary batting through the middle overs of the innings, Afghanistan might have struggled to even get past the 100-run mark in the game. But with Najib’s effort, they huffed and puffed to 124.
Almost every Afghanistan batsman struggled on that track against New Zealand bowlers who were bowling perfect lengths, but Najib walked in and batted with a positive intent straight away.
The fact that Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi were the right matchups for Najib helped him as well, as he played some crisp shots with the spin against both those spinners and also went after the medium-pacer Jimmy Neesham,
Virender Sehwag played with Najibullah Zadran in the T10 league a couple of years ago
Virender Sehwag recalled playing with Najib in the T10 league a couple of years ago, and he said he was not surprised with the kind of knock the left-hander played against New Zealand because he is not just a good player of spin, he can play fast bowling as well.
“I have played alongside him in T10 League. He is brilliant against both pace and spin and I feel an IPL contract is just around the corner for him,” Sehwag said while speaking on a Cricbuzz post-match show.
IPL has expanded to 10 teams now and with each team allowed 8 overseas players in their squads, 80 overseas players will get an IPL contract shortly. Sehwag believes Najibullah Zadran might be one of them.
Despite Najib’s effort yesterday, Afghanistan couldn’t beat New Zealand in their last group game which resulted in their elimination from the tournament and with them, India got eliminated as well, as New Zealand advanced to the knockouts along with Pakistan from group 2.
