Mumbai Indians marked a light moment in their IPL 2026 preparations as captain Hardik Pandya and teammates celebrated the birthday of Afghanistan’s Allah Ghazanfar during a training camp.
The celebration took place during a practice session, where players and support staff gathered to mark the occasion.
Ghazanfar, a young spinner, is part of the MI squad for IPL 2026 and is yet to make his debut in the league.
Earlier in the week, the Afghanistan player had spoken about an airstrike that hit a rehabilitation centre in Kabul. He referred to the impact of tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, focusing on the effect on civilians.
In what has been described as one of the deadliest airstrikes carried out by Pakistan on Afghanistan, at least 400 people were killed and around 250 others were injured. Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat said the strike hit a drug rehabilitation hospital, damaging large parts of the 2,000-bed facility. Pakistan has denied the allegations.
Ghazanfar highlighted the importance of the facility, stressing that it provided crucial support to vulnerable sections of society. “The people there don’t have money for treatment,” Ghazanfar told CNN News18. “And now, they’ve targeted that place as well; they’ve martyred those people. This is not acceptable to the people of Afghanistan.”
Strongly condemning the attack, he also questioned the intent behind such military actions. “I don’t know what they’re trying to prove. They come and target ordinary people, and we simply cannot accept this. Afghanistan cannot accept this,” he said in the interview. “Everyone knows Afghanistan’s history,” he warned. “If that history repeats itself, it will be very bad for Pakistan.”
The spinner is yet to make his IPL debut and has featured in 20 matches for Afghanistan so far, picking up 29 wickets across formats.
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