Karim Janat

Having the ability to bowl at over 140 clicks consistently and being a good pinch hitter down the order, Karim Janat is a bowling all-rounder who plays for the Afghanistan cricket team.

Janat is the younger brother of Afghanistan's former captain Asghar Afghan, and he was part of the Afghanistan squad for the 2016 Under-19 World Cup. 

The Afghan cricketer made his international debut in the T20I series against the UAE in 2016. He made a name for himself in his debut match, scoring a brisk 25 and picking up 3 crucial wickets to propel Afghanistan past the victory line. For his all-round efforts, Janat was declared the 'Player of the Match'. 

A few months later, the all-rounder was selected in the Afghanistan squad for an ODI match against Zimbabwe. 

Arguably, his best performance came in the shortest format of the game against the West Indies in 2019. He grabbed 5 for 11 in four overs to rattle the Windies. Chasing 148, the West Indies could only manage to score 106 for the loss of 8 wickets.

The first sign of Karim’s maturation came in 2021, when Afghanistan embarked on a limited-overs series against Zimbabwe in Abu Dhabi. Janat was tasked not only with leading the pace attack in patches but also offering balance in a side where spin was always the headline act. He bowled tidily, hitting the 140 km/h mark regularly, and picked up wickets at crucial moments. More importantly, his batting began to show the confidence that many had long predicted. A brisk 33 not out in the second T20I reminded everyone that he was not just a bowler who could bat, but a genuine pinch-hitting option who could change the tempo of an innings.

As Afghanistan moved into 2022, the cricketing calendar grew busier with the approach of the T20 World Cup in Australia. Janat found himself firmly in the selectors’ plans. In the bilateral series against Ireland and Bangladesh leading up to the tournament, he was primarily used as a new-ball option. His ability to swing the ball early and then return at the death with yorkers gave the captain tactical flexibility. Against Ireland in Belfast, he returned figures of 2 for 21 in four overs, including the prized scalp of Paul Stirling. With the bat, he chipped in with a 15-ball 22 to lift Afghanistan past 160, a microcosm of what he brought to the team: impact in short bursts that often swung momentum.

The T20 World Cup in Australia was the real test. On surfaces that offered bounce and pace, Afghanistan needed its seamers to step up. Janat played three matches, finishing with 4 wickets at an economy rate of 7.1, which is solid if not spectacular. His best came against Ireland at the MCG, where he bowled with rhythm and dismissed both openers in his opening spell, setting the tone for Afghanistan’s eventual victory. Although the headlines focused on Rashid Khan and Najibullah Zadran, Janat’s role as the quiet enforcer was not lost on observers. Commentators noted that Afghanistan, long reliant on spin, had finally found a seamer who could stand up in World Cup conditions.

The 2023 season was another turning point. Afghanistan was gearing up for the ODI World Cup in India, and though Karim had not cemented a permanent spot in the 50-over XI, he was included in the broader squad. Leading into the tournament, he played in a warm-up series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. 

During the 2023 Cricket World Cup itself, Janat played two matches. His most notable outing came against the Netherlands in Lucknow, where he bowled economically in the middle overs and picked up the wicket of Colin Ackermann. While his returns were modest, 2 wickets in the tournament, his inclusion spoke to his versatility. Afghanistan, a team built on the might of Rashid, Mujeeb, and Nabi, had in Janat someone who could lighten the load of their spinners with seam overs and add depth with the bat.

By 2024, Karim Janat was no longer just the “younger brother of Asghar Afghan.” He had carved his own identity. Asghar’s retirement left a leadership vacuum in Afghanistan cricket, but Karim, while not a captain, became part of the senior group. Younger players like Noor Ahmad and Naveed Zadran looked up to him, not least because of his work ethic. Coaches often pointed out that Janat was the last to leave nets, working tirelessly on yorkers and slower balls, as well as hitting long balls in batting drills.

That same year, during the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA, Janat once again donned Afghan colours. He played four matches, claiming 5 wickets and scoring 54 runs, including a vital 28 off 17 balls against the West Indies in St. Lucia. Though Afghanistan bowed out in the Super 8s, Janat’s ability to handle both ball and bat underlined his value in a squad that increasingly needed seam-bowling allrounders to balance its spin-heavy core.

For Karim Janat, the journey from the 2016 U-19 World Cup to becoming a mainstay in Afghanistan’s T20 side has been less about headline stardom and more about steady evolution. Because in cricket, as in life, not all stories are about meteoric rises. Some are about the steady hum of persistence, about being ready when called upon, about proving again and again that promise can turn into presence. Karim Janat’s story belongs firmly in that second category, and it’s far from finished.

(As of September 2025)