Rashid, Mujeeb and Noor: The Afghan spin trio set to derail Proteas' T20 World Cup campaign

The Proteas face Afghanistan in a crucial ICC T20 World Cup clash in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

It is a rematch of the 2024 semi-final where the Proteas blew away the Afghans to qualify for their first-ever T20 World Cup final.

But the conditions are expected to be a lot different at the Narendra Modi Stadium than they were in Trinidad, especially with the match scheduled for an 11am start (India time).

It is likely to bring the spinners more into the contest, with Afghanistan’s mystery trio of captain Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and Noor Ahmad posing a major threat. 

Independent Media’s Zaahier Adams profiles the three gun Afghanistan spinners. 

1. Noor Ahmad 

Afghanistan missed a trick with the exclusion of the mystery spinner against New Zealand last Saturday in Chennai, but coach Jonathan Trott is unlikely to exclude the 21-year-old again. The globetrotting wrist-spinner features in all the major franchise leagues, most notably the IPL and Betway SA20. He was the second highest wicket-taker in all T20 cricket in 2025 with 85 scalps at an average of 19.73 and economy of 7.45. 

2. Rashid Khan

The ‘OG’ of all Afghanistan’s spinners is well-known to South African audiences, having captained MI Cape Town in the Betway SA20 since the competition started four seasons ago. 

“Yeah, I think it helps you to share that information with the team,” Rashid said of his experience playing with and against South African players regularly.

"I think it does help the youngsters who haven't played and give them the kind of idea of what's going to happen, what their mindset is, and I think it really helps. Spent one month there and I think that information you bring to the national team, it really helped the youngsters."

The skipper may now occasionally play second fiddle to the younger showman these days, but he has still taken 52 wickets in 26 T20Is against Full Members at a strike-rate of (11.3) and economy (5.83), which is better than his overall career numbers. 

3. Mujeeb-ur-Rahman

Another Afghan spinner that spends his January in South Africa playing for the Paarl Royals in Betway SA20. Familiarity has done nothing to diminish his powers though as Mujeeb remains a potent force. He showed off his skills against New Zealand with a double strike in the Powerplay. 

“I thought Mujeeb did really well. He’s a very, very good bowler with lots of variations, and we saw how dangerous he can be,” Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott said.