Mumbai Indians marked a lighter moment in their IPL 2026 preparations as captain Hardik Pandya and teammates celebrated Afghanistan’s Allah Ghazanfar’s birthday during the training camp.The celebration took place during a practice session, where players and support staff gathered to mark the occasion. Ghazanfar, a young spinner, is part of the MI squad for IPL 2026 and is yet to make his debut in the league.Earlier in the week, the Afghanistan player spoke about an airstrike that targeted a rehabilitation center in Kabul. He referred to the impact of tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, focusing on the impact on civilians.
At least 400 people were killed and around 250 injured in the attack, described as one of Pakistan’s deadliest airstrikes on Afghanistan. The attack targeted a drug rehabilitation hospital, damaging a large portion of the 2,000-bed facility, Hamdullah Fitrat, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s deputy government, said. Pakistan has denied these allegations.Ghazanfar highlighted the importance of this facility and emphasized that it provides important support to the weaker sections of the society. “People there don’t have money for treatment,” Ghazanfar told CNN News 18. “And now, they have targeted this place as well, they have martyred these people. This is not acceptable to the people of Afghanistan.” While strongly condemning the attack, he also questioned the intention behind such military operations. “I don’t know what they’re trying to prove. They come and target civilians, and we just can’t accept that. Afghanistan can’t accept that,” he said in the interview. “Everybody knows the history of Afghanistan,” he warned. If that history repeats itself, it will be very bad for Pakistan.The spinner is yet to make his IPL debut and has played 20 matches for Afghanistan so far, taking 29 wickets across all formats.
