Afghanistan’s ODI cap No.9, Noor Ali Zadran, retired from international cricket on Thursday after two Tests, 51 ODIs, and 23 T20Is. Zadran, who scored a 28-ball 45 in Afghanistan’s first-ever one-day international against Scotland at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in 2009, played his final Test against Ireland last week at the Tolerance Oval.
The 35-year-old opener retired with 1216 ODI runs, including a century and seven fifties. He made his T20I debut in 2010 and last played a T20I in 2023. The opening batter also made a surprise Test debut earlier this year after receiving his first call-up to the longest version of the game. Interestingly, Zadran was given his Test cap by his nephew and teammate Ibrahim Zadran. The duo then combined in an opening stand of 106 in the second innings of the Test match.
He was recalled to the Afghanistan squad for the T20Is at the Asian Games in October 2023, having last played for them in the 2019 ODI World Cup. At the Asian Games, he scored 51 and 39 against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, respectively, as Afghanistan defeated both teams on their route to the final against India, which ended in a no-result due to rain, and India won the gold medal because they were the higher-ranked team.
Noor Ali was a member of Afghanistan’s first recognised one-day international team, which faced Scotland in Benoni in April 2009. On that occasion, Noor Ali opened the batting and hit a 28-ball 45 to help his team win by 89 runs. Noor’s first Twenty20 International, in February 2010, was Afghanistan’s second game in the format. One of his career milestones was a half-century against India in the 2010 T20 World Cup, Afghanistan’s inaugural appearance. He was also a member of the team that defeated Zimbabwe in the first round of the T20 World Cup in 2016.
