KABUL: Former Afghanistan fast bowler Shapoor Zadran died on Tuesday after a prolonged illness, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said, a day short of his 39th birthday.
“With profound grief and deep sorrow, the Afghanistan Cricket Board mourns the passing of former Afghanistan fast bowler Shapoor Zadran,” the board said in a statement, adding that he had a foundational impact on the game there, playing 44 ODIs and 36 T20Is between 2009 and 2020 and taking a total of 80 international wickets.
According to multiple reports, Zadran had been receiving treatment at a hospital in New Delhi after being diagnosed with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH), a rare and life-threatening immune disorder. He had been hospitalized in India since January and was readmitted after his condition worsened following an initial period of improvement.
A tall, left-arm quick with a long run-up, Zadran was one of the most recognisable faces of Afghanistan’s cricket during its rise in the 2000s and 2010s.
He was part of the generation of players credited with lifting Afghan cricket from relative obscurity onto the international stage, a journey that culminated in the country’s admission as a Full Member of the International Cricket Council in 2017.
Zadran’s career-defining moment came at the 2015 World Cup, his only appearance at the tournament, where he finished as Afghanistan’s leading wicket-taker in Australia and New Zealand with 10 wickets.
He is also remembered for his role in Afghanistan’s historic maiden World Cup win — a one-wicket victory over Scotland in Dunedin — where, despite being primarily a bowler, he was at the crease to hit the winning runs.
Zadran, a refugee in Peshawar, Pakistan, in his early years, began playing cricket there alongside future Afghanistan stars including Mohammad Nabi, Asghar Afghan and Dawlat Zadran. He announced his retirement from the game in January 2025, describing it as “the day I never wanted to face” after what he called 22 years of “service, sacrifice, and love for cricket.”
Meanwhile, tributes poured in from across the cricketing world following news of his death. His brother and former Afghanistan international, Dawlat Zadran, wrote that he was “heartbroken by the passing of my dear friend and brother, Shapoor Zadran,” adding that “words cannot express this loss.”
The ACB said Zadran’s contributions “will always remain an important part of the history of Afghanistan cricket,” noting that beyond his achievements on the field, he was “a true source of inspiration for many young Afghan cricketers and for cricket followers across the world.”
