Pakistan’s Sufyan Moqim to replace AM Ghazanfar at Derbyshire for 2026 T20 Blast

Derbyshire Falcons have named Pakistan left-arm wrist spinner, Sufyan Moqim, as the replacement for Afghanistan mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar for the remainder of the T20 Blast, after the Afghanistan Cricket Board withdrew the player’s availability, citing workload concerns.

The Falcons had signed Moqim as one of their three overseas players ahead of the Blast, but the spinner was unavailable due to national duty. He joins Caleb Jewell and compatriot Akif Javed, the latter of whom came in as a replacement for Moqim.

Moqim has picked up 83 wickets in 57 T20 matches at an economy of 6.83. With 22 wickets in 11 innings, and was the leading wicket-taker in the 2026 Pakistan Super League, playing a key role in the Peshawar Zalmi lifting the title. He replaces Ghazanfar, who picked up 16 wickets in 14 matches for the club in the 2025 T20 Blast, bowling at an economy of 7.05.

“The nature of signing overseas players, with so many T20 leagues and international series happening concurrently, you have to be able to adapt and use your contacts to make the best of a situation. When we received word Mohammad wouldn’t be joining us, it was a blow, but we had good contact with Sufyan’s camp from our first dealings with him and we moved quickly to finalise a deal. Sufyan is a rising star in Pakistan, he’s come on leaps and bounds over the last couple of years and he will provide something completely different to our attack. I’m very excited to welcome him to Derbyshire,” Head of Cricket, Mickey Arthur, said in an official statement.

The Falcons sit fourth in the North Group, having picked up eight points from two wins in six matches. They will be looking to reverse their fortunes in the second half of the season. They host Yorkshire at Chesterfield in their next match in the Blast, set to be played on Sunday, June 28.