Afghanistan U-19 Cricketer Barkat Ibrahimzai Triggers Age Controversy After His Pic Goes Viral During BAN-U19 vs AFG U-19 1st Youth ODI 2025
Several fans on social media noticed Barkat Ibrahimzai's picture in his match graphic for the BAN U-19 vs AUS U-19 1st Youth ODI 2025 and raised questions about his age. The Bangladesh U-19 cricket team defeated the Afghanistan U-19 cricket team by five runs in the 1st Youth ODI.
Afghanistan's U-19 cricketer Barkat Ibrahimzai was the talk of the town on social media, triggering talk of age fraud, on social media after a picture of his graphic went viral during the BAN-U19 vs AFG U-19 1st Youth ODI 2025. The Afghanistan U-19 National Cricket Team locked horns with the Bangladesh U-19 National Cricket Team at the Shaheed Chandu Stadium, Bogra, Bangladesh, on October 28, when it was his match graphic that drew the spotlight. It was a Youth ODI alright and fans were surprised to notice the picture of Barkat Ibrahimzai, which they felt did not look like that of a 19-year-old, raising questions about his age. Several netizens also dug up Barkat Ibrahimzai's old social media posts and questioned his age, which, as per records, is said to be 19 years and 44 days at the time of this story. 17-Year-Old Australia Club Cricketer Ben Austin Dies After Being Struck by Ball.
'Age Thing Getting Out of Hand'
This age thing is getting out of hand 🧐
Meet Barkat Ibrahimzai, a “U19” player for Afghanistan 🇦🇫.
How is he just 19 yet?! There are so many like him in the current U19 squad
The ICC really needs to stop this
Real young talents in Afghanistan deserve a fair shot 🙌#Cricket pic.twitter.com/07Vdd41eR5
— Clink (@ClinkWrites) October 29, 2025
'ICC Needs to Be Stricter About Age Fraud'
@ICC needs to be stricter about age fraud in cricket
Yesterday, in the U19 match between 🇦🇫 and 🇧🇩, a player named Barkat Ahmadzai (“19 years old”) was seen playing, but a 7 year-old IG post(now deleted) shows him as a “12-year-old” & there’s no way this guy was 12 in that photo pic.twitter.com/v8difSeAsj
— Associate Chronicles (@AssociateChrons) October 29, 2025
Interesting
Barkat Ibrahimzai, an Afghanistan U-19 Cricketer who claims to be 19 years old, his son met with Babar Azam in 2018. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Ta144PnHYz
— Salman. (@TsMeSalman) October 29, 2025
Another Netizen Questions Barkat Ibrahimzai's Age
Afghanistan cricketer Barakatullah Ibrahimzai
- Left: 12-year-old Barkat in 2018
- Right: 19-year-old Barkat in 2025
- Still playing in the Under-19 category despite being clearly overage
Seems like age doesn’t increase for some players there, a whole different world altogether pic.twitter.com/nvqD5mVvqT
— Vipin Tiwari (@Vipintiwari952) October 30, 2025
'Way Older Than Rashid Khan'
🤣 19-year-old Barakatullah Ibrahimzai, playing for Afghanistan U19, had fans doing a double take — he looks way older than Rashid Khan 😹#AfghanistanCricket pic.twitter.com/fTZnhjijaR
— KhilariTak (@khilaritak) October 28, 2025
'Looks Older Than 19'
🚨 BAKAT IBRAHIMZAI IN U19?
🚨
- Afghanistan’s U19 player Bakat Ibrahimzai is currently featuring for the U19 side
- He looks older than 19, raising some eyebrows among fans pic.twitter.com/gTJtVTZ6gg
— ẞĀÂD (@_Saadi17) October 28, 2025
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 30, 2025 04:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
