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The Asia Cup 2025 will get underway on Tuesday, September 9, with Afghanistan taking on Hong Kong at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The 20-over match getting underway at 8:00 PM IST is going to be a special one for Afghanistan's veteran players with two of their biggest stars looking to achieve historic milestones.

 

Former captain Mohammad Nabi, the 40-year-old legendary all-rounder, is only 51 runs short of a milestone that no Afghan player has achieved so far. If he manages to earn those runs, he will be the first Afghan cricketer to score more than 6000 runs in international cricket. Nabi has so far scored 5949 runs in 312 matches.

 

His total adds up to 33 runs in three Tests, 3667 runs in 173 ODIs, and 2249 runs in 136 T20Is. He has already become Afghanistan's leading run-scorer in T20Is and stands second on the list in ODIs.

 

Nabi has made 51 runs in seven innings over eight games of Asia Cup T20Is and also taken seven wickets. The game on Tuesday provides him with a chance to enhance his record while driving Afghanistan's assault with both bat and ball.

 

Also Read | Watch: Father-Son Battle as Nabi Gets Hit for Six by Hassan Eisakhil

 

Most International Runs for Aghanistan

 

Player	Matches	Runs	Best Score	Average	100/50	4s/6s
Mohammad Nabi	312	5949	136	24.48	2/23	402/223
Rahmat Shah	135	4948	234	36.65	8/36	461/46
Mohammad Shahzad	159	4844	131*	31.25	7/26	564/132
Asghar Afghan	195	4246	164	24.83	2/19	287/145
Najibullah Zadran	199	3890	104*	29.24	1/23	304/165

 

Also Read | Rashid Khan Overtakes Tim Southee to Lead T20I Wicket Chart

 

Rashid Khan Eyes Asia Cup T20I Wicket-Taking Record

 

Player	Nation	Matches Played	Wickets	BBI
Bhuvneshwar Kumar	India	6	13	5/4
Amjad Javed	UAE	7	12	3/25
Mohammad Naveed	UAE	7	11	3/14
Rashid Khan	Afghanistan	8	11	3/22
Hardik Pandya	India	8	11	3/8
Al-Amin Hossain	Bangladesh	5	11	3/25

 

Skipper Rashid Khan also comes to the match with a record in his sights. Already the top wicket-taker of T20 internationals globally, Rashid has taken 11 wickets in eight Asia Cup T20I matches. To overtake India's Bhuvneshwar Kumar to become the top wicket-taker in Asia Cup T20I history, Rashid will require at least three wickets from Hong Kong.

 

With both Rashid and Nabi being in pursuit of large milestones, Afghanistan will have extra incentive going into their first clash. There will be watchful eyes from the fans on whether Nabi can write history with the bat and whether Rashid can shatter another record with the ball.

 

This game not only kickstarts the Asia Cup 2025 but also showcases the growing presence of Afghanistan in world cricket, with two of their greatest legends at the helm.

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