The Afghanistan cricket fans were left stunned on Friday after reports started circulating on social media that allrounder Mohammad Nabi has passed away. The rumours started doing the rounds that the 34-year-old veteran passed away after suffering a heart attack. Only a few hours after the hoax started, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) shared pictures of Nabi training alongside his team at the Kabil Stadium.
Despite the images, the rumours continued to spread throughout the day, with ACB maintaining a complete silence on the subject matter. Eventually, Nabi himself went on to Twitter, to squash the rumours.
“Alhamdulillah I am all good, a news disseminated by some media outlets about my demise is FAKE. Thank you,” Nabi wrote on his official Twitter handle.
Dear friends,
Alhamdulillah I am all good, a news disseminated by some media outlets about my demise is FAKE. Thank you.
Nabi will bring curtains down to his Test career after the ongoing one-off match against Bangladesh being played at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. “Yes, he (Nabi) will retire after the ongoing Test match,” Afghanistan team manager Nazim Jar Abdurrahimzai confirmed to Cricbuzz. It is understood that Nabi has taken this decision in a bid to prolong his white-ball career.
Including the ongoing Test, the 34-year-old has featured in only three red-ball matches. Afghanistan are not a part of the ICC World Test Championship as only the top nine full member nations are competing in a total of 71 Tests across 27 bilateral series over two years. They will next face West Indies in the one-off Test scheduled to begin from November 27 in Dehradun.
