Afghan cricketer Allah Ghazanfar has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy 2025 and Indian Premier League (IPL) because of a “fracture in the L4 vertebra”.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) announced on Wednesday morning that Ghazanfar suffered the injury while on Afghanistan’s tour of Zimbabwe late last year and “will be sidelined for a minimum of four months and will remain under treatment during this period.”

Ghazanfar had bagged his maiden IPL contract recently, with Mumbai Indians.

Afghan cricketer Nangeyalia Kharote, who was initially named as a reserve, has now taken Ghazanfar’s place in the main squad.

Ghazanfar, with 21 wickets in 11 ODIs to date, played three matches for MI Emirates in the UAE’s ILT20 league in January after the Zimbabwe tour. However, he did not meet MI Emirates’ expectations, bowling 7.1 overs in those three games and taking only one wicket with an economy rate of 9.48.

The ACB appointed former Pakistan captain Younis Khan as the mentor for its national cricket team in preparation for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy on January 8.

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