Mujeeb Ur Rahman sets T20 record on Big Bash League debut

Mujeeb smashed 27 off 22 deliveries after coming out to bat at number 11 and in the process, set a new T20 record.

After taking the eleventh season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm earlier this year, 17-year-old Afghanistan spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman set the Big Bash League alight on his debut.

File image of Brisbane Heat cricketer Mujeeb Ur Rahman (Brisbane Heat/ Twitter)

In the opening match of the season, Mujeeb took Adelaide Strikers apart, not with the ball in hand but the bat. Mujeeb smashed 27 off 22 deliveries after coming out to bat at number 11 and he was second-highest run-scorer for his team after Chris Lynn.

Mujeeb now holds the record of most runs scored by a number 11 batsman in an innings in T20s. Earlier, the record belonged to Alankara Silvam, who hit 26 runs in a domestic T20 match in Sri Lanka.

Mujeeb’s innings included three boundaries and he also hit a reverse sweep off compatriot Rashid Khan which brought smiles on the faces of the two cricketers. Mujeeb’s IPL franchisee Kings XI Punjab took note of his heroics and they wrote on Twitter: “.@Mujeeb_R88 playing the reverse sweep . No wonder he broke a T20 record on his @BBL debut!”

Mujeeb had scripted history even before making his first appearance for Brisbane as he became the youngest player to sign a Big Bash league contract. Moreover, he is also the only player in the league to be born in the 21st century.

Mujeeb became a household name because of his performances in the IPL 2018.The spinner scalped 14 wickets in 11 matches in his debut season with Kings XI Punjab and was subsequently retained by the team for the 2019 season of the cash-rich league.