Northamptonshire Cricket County Club signs Mohammad Nabi for T20 Blast 2021

Northamptonshire Cricket County Club have signed the number one ranked all-rounder in the T20 International Men’s rankings by International Cricket Council (ICC), Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi for the 2021 edition of the T20 Blast. Northants will be his third county, after previous stints at Leicestershire and Kent in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

A powerful lower middle-order hitter and a wily off-spinner Nabi has some decent numbers to his name in the shortest format of the game. He has featured in 78 T20 Internationals for his country amassing 1347 runs at an average of over 22 and strike rate of 145.3. Along with that, the cricketer also has 69 scalps to his name at an economy rate of 7.17 and average of 27.1.

Speaking about the signing of the Afghan all-rounder, David Ripley, Northants’ director of cricket, stated that the club is delighted to have a high-profile player in their squad. David heaped praises on Mohammad Nabi saying that the veteran has capabilities and experience to change the game both with the bat and ball.

Nabi was the perfect choice with his power and experience: Josh Cobb

“We’re delighted to welcome such a high-profile T20 player as Mohammad Nabi to the club. He has a wealth of experience from playing in so many global tournaments around the world and can completely turn a game with both bat and ball.” Northants’ director of cricket said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

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Further Josh Cobb, the captain of Northamptonshire Cricket County Club welcomed Mohammad Nabi in the squad and is hopeful that his inclusion in the team will solve their problem of having a weak middle-order. In the last season, the club had also signed Tom Taylor who has decent numbers to his name while batting in middle-order in domestic circuit.

Josh believes that both Nabi and Taylor provide stability and balance to the team and open up a lot of options. Also he hailed both the players as three-dimensional players. “Nabi was our number one target for that role, so Rips [David Ripley] and the club have done a great job to get him. We’ve looked at our middle order as a bit of priority for us, so Nabi was the perfect choice with his power and experience.

“Along with bringing in Tom [Taylor] last year we’re now looking pretty strong in that area. They’re both three-dimensional players, so they help balance us up a bit and give us plenty of options on the day.” Cobb said.