Afghanistan opener Najeeb Tarakai dies in a car accident

Kabul, October 6: Afghanistan opening batsman Najeeb Tarakai died in an accident here. He was 29. Najeeb was hit by a speeding car on Monday (October 5) in the Afghanistan capital and he breathed his last in a hospital on Tuesday (October 6).

The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced the news in a condolence message on its Twitter handle. "ACB and Afghanistan Cricket Loving Nation mourns the heart breaking & grievous loss of its aggressive opening batsman & a very fine human being Najeeb Tarakai (29) who lost his life to tragic traffic accident leaving us all shocked! May Allah Shower His Mercy on him," the Twitter message read.

Najeeb was made his debut for Afghanistan in an ODI against Ireland in 2014 at Greater Noida, then the base of the team because of civil war in that country.

However, Najeeb made more impact in the T20Is, a format in which he represented Afghanistan 12 times. His T20I debut was also in 2014 against Bangladesh in Dhaka and his final match was also against Bangladesh in September 2019.

From 12 T20Is, he made 258 runs at 21.50 with a strike-rate of 122.85 and his highest was a 99. His last active match was in the Shpageeza Cricket League where he played for MIS Ainak Knights against Kabul Eagles and made 32 off 22 balls with five fours and a six.