Mumbai Indians had a lighter moment in their preparations for IPL 2026 as captain Hardik Pandya and his teammates celebrated the birthday of Afghanistan player Allah Ghazanfar during the training camp.
Celebrations took place during training, with players and support staff coming together to mark the occasion.
Ghazanfar is a young spinner who is part of the MI squad for IPL 2026 but is yet to make his debut in the league.
Earlier this week, the Afghanistan player spoke about the air strikes on a rehabilitation center in Kabul. He mentioned the impact of tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, focusing on the impact on civilians.
It was called one of Pakistan’s deadliest air strikes in Afghanistan, killing at least 400 people and injuring about 250 others. Afghanistan’s deputy government spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said the attack hit a 2,000-bed drug rehabilitation hospital and damaged most of its facilities. Pakistan denies the accusations.
Gazanfar highlighted the importance of the facility, emphasizing that it provides vital support to vulnerable groups in society. “People there don’t have money for treatment,” Gazanfar told CNN News18. “Now, they’re targeting that place as well; they’re allowing those people to be martyred. That’s unacceptable to the Afghan people.”
He strongly condemned the attack and questioned the intentions behind such military action. “I don’t know what they are trying to prove. They are targeting ordinary people and we simply cannot accept that. Afghanistan cannot accept that either,” he said in an interview. “Everyone knows the history of Afghanistan,” he warned. “It would be very bad for Pakistan if this history repeats itself.”
The spinner is yet to make his debut in the IPL and has so far played 20 matches for Afghanistan, taking 29 wickets in various formats.
