Kabir first came to national prominence when he took a second-innings 5–48 (and eight wickets in the match) against the touring Zimbabwe side in May 2003; in a precursor to his final-over heroics at Bloemfontein, Kabir claimed the final two wickets with the scores level to tie the match. Kabir's life was touched by tragedy in July 2003, when his two-week-old nephew died. However, his father wished him to play for Worcestershire against Derbyshire a few days later, and he put in a magnificent display. After a quiet first innings with the ball, he scored a quickfire 68, putting on 104 with Steve Rhodes for the eighth wicket to help rescue his team from deep trouble at 190/7, and then ripped through the Derbyshire batting line-up to take 8–53, at the time the best innings analysis of his career. Thanks to Kabir's heroics, Worcestershire won the game by an innings. Kabir further demonstrated his batting credentials in September 2003, hitting 92 from 93 balls in a 45-over National Cricket League match against Essex, his maiden limited-overs fifty.