Malik went to the province of Khost on the Pakistan border to speak convince Mangal's father, telling him: "He will be great".

[2] In 2007, Mangal was appointed the captain of the national side, taking up the post against Lower Dir District in the 2007/8 Inter-District Senior Tournament.

In that tournament he led Afghanistan to 5th place and ODI status and promotion to World Cricket League Division One.

Mangal led Afghanistan to victory over Scotland in their first ever ODI, with himself claiming the winning wicket of John Blain.

[8][9] In November 2010 it was announced that all-rounder Mohammad Nabi would captain Afghanistan in the 2010 Asian Games twenty20 tournament in China later that month.

[10] The Afghanistan Cricket Board released a statement that "We have played 16 one-day internationals but we could only win nine therefore we thought the burden of captaincy is too heavy on Nawroz and Nabi is the next best choice".

[11] After causing an upset by beating Pakistan in the semi-finals of the games, Afghanistan lost the final to Bangladesh and finished with a silver medal.