Muhammad Abbas (New Zealand cricketer)

Muhammad Abbas (born 29 November 2003) is a New Zealand cricketer who plays for Wellington.

Muhammad Abbas

Personal information
Full name	Muhammad Arslan Abbas
Born	(2003-11-29) 29 November 2003 (age 21) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Left-arm medium-fast
Role	Batter
Relations	Azhar Abbas (father)
International information
National side	New Zealand (2025)
ODI debut (cap 222)	29 March 2025 v Pakistan
Last ODI	5 April 2025 v Pakistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2022/23–present	Wellington (squad no. 4)
Career statistics
Competition ODI FC LA T20 Matches 3 21 18 19 Runs scored 104 1,301 558 391 Batting average 34.66 36.13 34.87 26.06 100s/50s 0/1 2/6 1/5 0/3 Top score 52 130 104 72 Balls bowled 60 586 252 114 Wickets 2 12 7 2 Bowling average 29.50 30.41 41.42 86.00 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0 Best bowling 1/16 3/22 3/34 1/19 Catches/stumpings 1/– 7/– 8/– 4/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 8 April 2025

Biography

Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Abbas moved to New Zealand as a young child when his father, Azhar Abbas, joined Karori Cricket Club in Wellington.^[1] He started playing cricket at a young age and scored his first century at the age of 11.^[1][2]

Abbas attended Marshall Laing Primary School and later King's College, Auckland, where he played for the first XI for four years under the coaching of former New Zealand spinner Dipak Patel.^[1][2] He focused more on his bowling growing up, learning from his father.^[1]

In the 2018 season, Abbas scored seven centuries.^[3]

In December 2022, the Abbas family settled in Wellington, and he joined his father's former club, Karori.^[1]

On 25 February 2023, Abbas made his first-class cricket debut for Wellington against Otago.^[4] In July 2023, he was awarded a contract with Wellington.^[5] In August 2023, Abbas was selected to play for New Zealand A in a series against Australia A.^[6]

On 29 March 2025, he made his ODI debut for New Zealand against Pakistan in the first game of a 3-match series. In this match he set a new world record for the fastest 50 on debut in an ODI (in terms of balls faced). He was caught on the boundary from the last ball of the innings with 52 runs off 26 balls. He also took one wicket, dismissing the Pakistani captain Mohammad Rizwan.^[7]