“In my mind, from the last World Cup, I was retired but then we qualified for the Champions Trophy and I felt if I could play that, it would be great,” Nabi told the host broadcaster after the third ODI.
It is understood he has communicated the decision to the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and will continue playing T20Is. To the ACB media team, he said: “We will see, but no, I will not play for long. God willing, after the Champions Trophy, we will say goodbye to the ODIs.”
With 167 appearances in the format, Nabi is Afghanistan’s highest-capped ODI cricketer and the current World No. 1 ODI allrounder according to the ICC rankings.
The 2025 Champions Trophy will be Afghanistan’s maiden appearance at the event. They made the cut by virtue of finishing sixth at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. The eight-team Champions Trophy features the top seven teams from the latest ODI World Cup, along with hosts Pakistan.
In both T20Is and ODIs, Nabi has been a constant in Afghanistan’s rise up the ranks that culminated in ODI, T20I and Test recognition. He was ODI captain in Afghanistan’s maiden 50-over World Cup appearance in 2015, and featured in the 2019 and 2023 editions too. He retired from Tests in 2019.