Kolkata Knight Riders’ wicketkeeper-bat Rahmanullah Gurbaz revealed that his mother is still in the hospital and came back to help his IPL family for the playoffs after Phil Salt’s departure to England for national duty. (More Cricket News)
The 22-year-old left the lucrative league mid-way to be with his mother, but arrived just in time when Shreyas Iyer’s men lacked an aggressive opener who could also keep wickets.
Gurbaz featured for the Knight Riders in the Qualifier 1 after their last two league games being washed out. The opener scored 23 from just 14 balls to give KKR a good start in the powerplay.
Speaking after the Chandrakanth Pandit-coached side booked their finals ticket in Chennai, Gurbaz revealed that his mother was still recovering from an illness and still talks to her everyday.
"My mother is still recovering in the hospital, I speak to her every day. But I knew my KKR family needed me here once Phil Salt left. So I came back from Afghanistan, and I'm happy to be here. My mother is happy for me too," Gurbaz said.
After being inserted to bowl first, KKR started proceedings with a bang, thanks to Mitchell Starc. The left-arm quick picked up three wickets early to put SRH on the back foot. The Pat Cummins-led side managed to score just 159 for the loss of ten wickets.
The Knight Riders in their chase, led by Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer finished the game in under 14 overs and will play the IPL 2024 finals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
