Zafar Gohar earns Hundred call-up with Oval Invincibles

Jul 16, 2025 - 00:00

As part of the wildcard draft for The Hundred 2025, Oval Invincibles have signed Zafar Gohar, a Pakistani spinner. This strengthens their bowling assault before the competition.

James Anderson, a seasoned pacer from England, will make his Hundred debut this summer after being signed by Manchester Originals. This is a big headline in the men’s wildcard picks.

The 42-year-old, who is back in T20 cricket after 11 years, has taken 14 wickets in eight outings for Lancashire in the current Vitality Blast. Anderson was not picked in the draft in March, but on Tuesday he got a £31,000 wildcard agreement.

The Northern Superchargers have picked 17-year-old Rocky Flintoff, even though he has never played professional T20 cricket before. His father and former England captain Andrew Flintoff is his coach. Selectors have been impressed by his recent performances, which include centuries for England Lions in Australia and England U-19s against India.

Southern Brave was the first team to sign an international wildcard, and they chose Hilton Cartwright from Australia. They have signed Toby Albert from Hampshire and Jason Roy instead of Faf du Plessis. Toby Albert may wear the gloves because Finn Allen and Laurie Evans are hurt.

After his breakout county season, Welsh Fire added Glamorgan allrounder and ambidextrous spinner Ben Kellaway to their team. After a great T20 season with Northamptonshire, Ben Sanderson joined the Trent Rockets. They also got Callum Parkinson and Dillon Pennington, who replaced the injured John Turner.

James Wharton and Will Luxton from Yorkshire were left out even though they did well in the T20 Blast. Esmae MacGregor was signed by the Manchester Originals in the women’s wildcard draft after she took 21 wickets for Essex in the Blast. Mary Taylor was taken up by the Birmingham Phoenix, bringing her back together with her twin sister Millie.

The Hundred 2025 starts on August 5 with two games at Lord’s between the London Spirit and the Oval Invincibles.

The Invincibles chose a wildcard pick, and the 30-year-old spinner from Pakistan has been doing well in the Vitality Blast 2025 so far.

He has taken 11 wickets in 12 games for Gloucestershire, with an economy rate of 9.00. Gohar has also played 82 T20 matches, where he took 85 wickets at an average of 7.88 runs per wicket. He has played for Pakistan in one Test match and one ODI. In the red-ball format, he didn’t take any wickets, but he did take two in the 50-over game.

The spinner has taken 327 wickets in 93 first-class matches, with an economy rate of 3.10. This includes 21 five-wicket hauls.