Derbyshire sign spin pair for T20 Blast

Derbyshire have signed Pakistan spinner Sufiyan Muqeem and Afghanistan's Mohammad Ghazanfar for this summer's T20 Blast.

Muqeem, 26, will fill an overseas role for their first six matches before returning teenager Ghazanfar replaces him, having been the club's leading Blast wicket-taker in 2025 with 16 in 14 games.

Ghazanfar will also be available for the knockout stages, should the Falcons progress from their group, which they last did in 2022.

The 19-year-old has played 20 games for Afghanistan across all three formats, while left-armer Muqeem has 27 wickets from 19 T20 internationals, including figures of 5-3 against Zimbabwe in a game in December 2024.

"Signing overseas players with so many tournaments overlapping can be difficult, so we've done well to sign two current international spinners to ensure we have balance in our squad through the whole campaign," said Derbyshire head of cricket Mickey Arthur.

He described Muqeem as "a gem" and on Ghazanfar's return, Arthur added: "He's performing at a high level around the world, but he was clear with me over the winter that he wanted to come back to Derbyshire, and it's exciting we've managed to get the deal done."

Derbyshire will play their opening T20 Blast game at home to Durham on 22 May.