Gujarat Titans have added to their Afghan contingent for the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League, signing wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz for the tournament. Gurbaz comes in as replacement for England opener Jason Roy, who contentiously opted out at the last minute citing potential bubble fatigue.
With most other capable opening replacements taken by other teams, GT had to spread the net wide in their search and came up with the name of Gurbaz, Afghanistan’s rising young batting-keeper, who was in solid form during the recent tour of Bangladesh.
ESPNcricinfo reported, GT have signed Gurbaz for his enlisted base prize of INR 50 lakhs with which he had entered the IPL 2022 mega auction in Bangalore but went unsold. It will be the first IPL stint for the 20-year-old, who has played nine ODIs and 20 T20Is at the highest level.
Gurbaz’s entry makes it three Afghanistan players in Gujarat’s contingent for the IPL 2022, with ace wristspinner Rashid Khan signed pre-auction by the new franchise and young spinner Noor Ahmed picked at the mega auction in Bangalore, which was held as a two-day event last month. Rashid was secured by GT for INR 15 crores and Ahmed was bought for INR 30 lakhs after encouraging performances at the ICC U19 World Cup in January.
For Gurbaz, the opportunity to make the final playing XI, however, might be limited since he is expected to act as a back-up to experienced Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade. He is likely to open the innings with franchise’s pre-auction Indian signing Shubman Gill. The Hardik Pandya led side is understood to have shortlisted Gurbaz among Roy’s potential replacements after considering everything.
The list might have also featured Australia’s Ben McDermott, who was the leading run-getter in Big Bash League 2021-22 and earned his maiden T20I call-up for the Aussies during a home series in February versus Sri Lanka. He made his first international half-century against the Lankan Lions.
But what would’ve not gone in favour of McDermott is his unavailability for the start of the IPL 2022. McDermott is Australia’s first-choice opening batter for the ODI and T20I series in Pakistan in absence of David Warner. The series overlaps with the initial 10 days of the IPL 2022, making it impossible for the player to immediately join the GT camp. With no Afghanistan series scheduled at that point, Gurbaz can straightway enter the IPL bubble and start his preparations with the Titans.
Gurbaz has been a player on the rise since first catching the limelight with his impressive performances during the 2018 version of the U19 World Cup. The left-hander has been outstanding in ODIs for Afghanistan, making three hundreds in his first nine matches. In T20Is, he has made 534 runs at a strike-rate of 137.62.
Part of multiple T20 leagues of the world outside IPL, Gurbaz is among the finest strikers of the cricket ball. Since the start of 2019, he has piled on 1,555 runs from his 62 T20s with an eye-catching strike-rate of 153.05, hitting 123 fours and 108 sixes.
ESPNcricinfo reported, the Titans will be assembling with their squad and coaching staff on March 13 in Ahmedabad. They will undergo a three-day quarantine before entering a preparation camp at the newly-built Ahmedabad stadium. The camp will start on March 17 and run till March 24. Titans play their opening game of IPL 2022 against fellow new entrants Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai on March 28. The tournament kicks-off two days earlier with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Kolkata Knight Riders.
