Gunmen have kidnapped the father of Afghanistan's national cricket team captain near his home in an eastern city, officials have confirmed.

There has been no ransom demand since Mohammad Nabi's 60-year-old father, Khobi Khan, was abducted from his car in the city of Jalalabad, the cricket board president Shazada Masoud said.

Police are searching for Khan, but there have been no leads or any contact since he was taken on Tuesday morning, said Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital.

Masoud said he had spoken to Nabi, who said his family had no personal disputes and he was shocked at the abduction. Kidnapping is fairly common in Afghanistan amid the violence of the Taliban insurgency.

Nabi has been influential in promoting Afghan cricket. He learned to play at age 10 while living in a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan.

The 28-year-old was the architect of Afghanistan's progress to the cricket World Cup qualifiers in South Africa in 2009 and was named national team captain in March.