Former Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi has revealed that he got the nickname of ‘The President’ from England legend Kevin Pietersen. Speaking to the host broadcasters of ILT20, Nabi said that the former English cricketer saw something special in him, and that’s why the latter started calling him ‘The President’.
While narrating, Nabi recounted the 2016 incident when he and Pietersen were playing in a T20 league, and the Afghani all-rounder chased down 16 runs in the final over. The 42-year-old KP impressed by Nabi’s performance hailed him as The President.
The Afghan lad also said that soon after the incident, Pieterson, who was commentating in another league, started referring to Nabi as ‘The President’, and that’s how he got associated with the nickname.
“I got this name from Kevin Peterson in 2016, when I was playing league games for the first time, and he was also playing with us. It was our last match, and it was critical for us to win because I was going on National Duty after that. In the last over, 16 runs were required, which I successfully chased,” said Nabi while speaking to host bradcasters of ILT20.
“While traveling back, Kevin Peterson held the mic and said that I really played well in the tournament with them, played good matches and I am the future of Afghanistan because I have put up Afghanistan cricket from Zero to where it is. In the end, you will be the next president of Afghanistan. After that, we went to play in another league, and he was there as a commentator, and during the match, he kept referring to me as the President, and that’s how I got the name,” he added.
Cricket Australia had recently withdrawn from an ODI series against Afghanistan due to restrictions by the Afghan Government on women’s education. While many Afghanistan cricketers condemned Cricket Australia for their decision, Nabi also challenged the Aussies to boycott his team in the 2023 ODI World Cup.
“It is not right to mix politics with sports. The same regime was there during the World Cup and why did they play us? Because they wanted two points. They wanted a good NRR to progress in the World Cup. What will they do in the World Cup in India? We will see if they will boycott us there? The reason they have given is not right,” Nabi twas quoted as saying to Cricbuzz at the ICC Academy ground in Dubai on Friday.
