Young Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz has got an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract. The Gujarat Titans on Wednesday confirmed Gurbaz as England batter Jason Roy's replacement for the upcoming IPL 2022 season, which starts on March 26. (More Cricket News)
"Gujarat Titans have signed Afghanistan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz for the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Gurbaz has signed up as a replacement for the England batter Jason Roy, who had earlier pulled out of the tournament," said a statement.
Gurbaz went unsold at the IPL mega auction in February, but Roy's pull-out has given the 20-year-old a chance to showcase his talents in the world's premier T20 World Cup.
He is the third Afghanistan cricketer to join Gujarat Titans.
"Gurbaz, who joins Gujarat Titans at his base price of INR 50 Lakh, will be the third Afghanistan cricketer alongside Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad to feature for the franchise," said IPL in a statement.
Known for his power-hitting, the right-handed batter made his T20 International debut in 2019, and has since scored 534 runs in 20 matches with a highest of 87. He has three centuries in nine ODIs.
Vikram Solanki, Titans' Director of Cricket, said, "Rahmanullah Gurbaz is one of the promising young batters to emerge from Afghanistan and we believe he is an ideal replacement for Jason. Gurbaz is an attacking batter and fits into our plans for the Gujarat Titans. He has given a good account of his talent in international cricket and a few tournaments around the globe."
Roy, 31, had pulled out of the IPL 2022 citing the challenge of staying inside a bubble for a longer period. He was bought by Titans at the IPL auction for his base price of INR 2 crore.
Titans open their IPL 2022 campaign with a clash against fellow debutants Lucknow Super Giants on March 28 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead the side.
Gujarat Titans Squad:
Hardik Pandya (c), Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudharshan.
