Karim Sadiq

Karim Sadiq is a right-hand batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler, who also occasionally does wicket-keeping for the national team. Sadiq is a part of the Afghan team ever since it achieved the ODI status in 2009 during the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier. He was suspended for one game during that tournament due to "inappropriate and intentional physical contact" in their defeat against the Netherlands.

Soon after Afghanistan achieved ODI status, Sadiq quit the national setup in protest at his brother, Hasti Gul being dropped for their ICC Intercontinental Cup match against Zimbabwe XI. He accused national coach Kabir Khan of not acting in the best interest of the team. He made his first-class debut in January 2010 against Ireland. The following month, he made his T20I debut in the Sri Lanka Associates T20 Series against Ireland and picked up 2 wickets. He scored his maiden ODI ton this year against Scotland, hitting 114 in a match that Afghanistan won by 9 wickets.

Sadiq was also an important member of Afghanistan's 2010 ACC Trophy Elite winning squad, which defeated Nepal in the final by 95 runs. In the final, Sadiq top scored for Afghanistan with 58 runs. He was also a part of the Afghan Cheetahs team in the Faysal Bank Twenty-20 Cup 2011-12.

Sadiq then featured in Afghanistan's first ODI against a Full Member Test-playing nation when they played Pakistan at Sharjah in February 2012. He top scored in Afghanistan's innings with 40 runs.

Since then, Sadiq has featured in most of the Afghanistan games and has been an active member of the 50-over as well as the T20I squads.

By Sonali Dhulap
As of April 2014