Hopefully, I’ll play IPL this year and will perform for the team that picks me: Najibullah Zadran [Interview]

Afghanistan cricket has taken giant strides in recent years and so has their hard-hitting batter Najibullah Zadran. The southpaw can attack bowlers from the outset and his ability to shine in crunch situations makes him an even greater asset. Be it providing the team a fiery finish or steadying the ship after a top-order collapse, Najibullah embraced every challenge which came his way.

It won’t be wrong to state that the left-handed batter has been instrumental in Afghanistan’s success. Making his international debut in July 2012, Najibullah didn’t take long in becoming a vital cog of the white-ball team. Although he has received criticism for playing ‘lackluster’ shots at times, nothing can defy the fact that swashbuckler can win matches single-handedly on his day.

Owing to the same, he has also featured in several T20 competitions including the Caribbean Premier League. As a T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place later this year in Australia, Najibullah would be determined to shine down under and help his side make a mark. He’s also determined to earn a contract in the upcoming IPL 2022 mega auction.

In an exclusive interview with CricTracker, Najib opened about many things and made some interesting revelations as well. From speaking about his IPL ambitions to the future of Afghanistan cricket, let’s look at how the star batter responded to our queries.

Here are the excerpts from Najibullah Zadran’s interview:

You usually bat lower down the order for Afghanistan and put up consistent scores on board. Did you ever feel of getting promoted up the order?

Yes obviously, from the past five years, I had been asking the ex-captain to promote me up the order. I want to play in the top order and am confident of performing well in that position. However, he said that I am needed in the lower order. He told me that “you are our power hitter and can perform when the required run rate is eight, nine or 10 runs per over.”

However, I have talked to the new captain (Hashmatullah Shahidi) and he has told me that I can bat up the order. In the last series against Netherlands, I played at number five and did well. So, I am happy with that.

Afghanistan has taken giant strides in the shortest format in the last half decade. Do you think the team can emulate that success in red-ball cricket if given chances?

Yes, we are just waiting for opportunities. If we even get to play half the number of Test matches which other teams are getting, we can surely perform well like we did in white-ball cricket. We should be given matches with big teams. We’ll definitely make full use of our skills and opportunities.

Like Pakistan and Australia’s reputation of producing pacers, India’s of producing batters, Afghanistan in little time has built a reputation of producing world-beating T20 freelancers. Do you believe there’s a reason behind that?

Honestly, Afghanistan has a lot natural talent. In our initial days, we didn’t have a lot of facilities but we had natural talent. Afghan people have more power and they are strongly-built. So, we just have been utilizing it. The way we are playing in recent years, our skills have gone up and players are improving day by day.

What do you think about Afghanistan’s performance in U19 World Cup?

The team had visa-related issues. Our players reached West Indies just a couple of days before the tournament. I think they didn’t even play warm-up games. Despite all this, the way they performed, I think our future is very bright. Great talent is coming, the youngsters are performing well, be it at U19 level or in domestic cricket. So, the way our U19 team performed was brilliant.

You have played in a number of T20 leagues all over the world so far. Which one do you find the most competitive to play in?

From god’s grace, I have played a lot of T20 leagues apart from IPL. I am hopeful of featuring in IPL this year. I am confident that I can perform well for whichever team that picks me (in the mega auction). Speaking of the most competitive competition, tracks in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) aren’t too batting friendly. However, the competition is very high and I enjoy playing in such challenging circumstances.