Zadran brothers: Are Najibullah Zadran and Ibrahim Zadran related as brothers?

Najibullah Zadran and Ibrahim Zadran: The two Afghani batters put together a match-winning partnership tonight.

The Zadrans, consisting of Ibrahim and Najibullah, put together a match-winning 33-ball 69-run fourth-wicket partnership to power Afghanistan to a thumping 7-wicket victory against Bangladesh tonight.

Chasing a 128-run target on a tricky Sharjah Cricket Stadium pitch, Afghanistan needed 66 runs in seven overs to win the match when captain Mohammad Nabi (8) failed to justify his batting promotion.

Despite Ibrahim hitting Bangladesh fast bowler Taskin Ahmed for consecutive boundaries in the 15th over, Afghanistan still needed 52 runs in the last five overs. Najibullah, who had scored just three runs off his first six deliveries, hit three sixes off the next five balls to bring down the equation to needing 26 runs in three overs.

Ibrahim’s boundary and Najibullah’s four and two back-to-back sixes off Mohammad Saifuddin put Afghanistan in a commanding position before Najibullah hit another six to seal the chase in the penultimate over.

While Ibrahim scored 42* (41) with the help of four fours, Najibullah turned the tables with his 43* (17) coming at a strike rate of 252.94 and comprising of a four and six sixes.

Having already defeated Sri Lanka by 8 wickets on Saturday, Afghanistan have become the first team to qualify for Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 round. The development means that Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be playing a virtual knockout for the second Group B spot on Thursday.

Are Najibullah Zadran and Ibrahim Zadran related?

Najibullah!

No surprises. #gun

— Peter Borren (@dutchiepdb) August 30, 2022

Fans perceiving Ibrahim and Najibullah to be brothers is understandable because of both the cricketers sharing the same surname but it is noteworthy that the two are not related to each other.

Ibrahim, 20, was born in Khost. Najibullah, 29, on the other hand, was born in Logar. While Ibrahim has represented Afghanistan in all three formats in his three-year career, Najibullah has played 159 white-ball matches for Afghanistan in his decade-long career.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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