Pakistan media clears air after Mujeeb Ur Rahman's age controversy causes stir

Mumbai: The mystery over Afghanistan cricketer Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s age seems to have been cleared after Asif Khan, the editor of The Dawn apologised for his mistake, saying that he meant Najeeb and not Mujeeb.

In an interview with The Dawn, former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif, the then coach of Afghanistan had claimed that Mujeeb was spotted in a senior training camp in 2010. It raised a debate on Mujeeb's age as the claim suggested he was much older than his original age.

"I was approached by Hamid Shinwari, the then CEO of the board, and traveled to Afghanistan to find a good bunch of players during a short camp in Kabul. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Amir Hamza and a few others were potentially good cricketers,” Latif had said.

“Just checked with Latif & he pointed out this as a mistake. He said it was Najeeb not Mujeeb. Writer’s fault! My apologies,” Asif recently clarified.

Mujeeb, the first player to play international cricket in the 21^st century, has picked up 54 wickets from 31 international games across all the three formats.