Gujarat Titans set to sign Rahmanullah Gurbaz as Jason Roy’s replacement
There were speculations that Gujarat Titans may sign Suresh Raina who went unsold at mega auction.
Newly added IPL franchise Gujarat Titans are all set to rope in young batsman from Afghanistan Rahmanullah Gurbaz for the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League. Gurbaz will replace Jason Roy in the squad.
Roy, who was signed for his base price of INR 2 crore, had pulled out of the competition citing bubble fatigue. The England opener, who was recently seen in action during the PSL, said that he wanted to spend some time with the family after being on the road for the last few months.
The franchise has finally found a suitable replacement for Jason Roy in the Rahmanullah Gurbaz. While Gujarat is yet to confirm the same, the 20-year-old cricketer himself shared a story of being named as Jason Roy’s replacement on his official Instagram handle.
Gujarat Titans set to sign Rahmanullah Gurbaz as the replacement of Jason Roy. pic.twitter.com/ugG7xeKXeZ
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 8, 2022
The management has already sent Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s contract papers to the BCCI for approval. He will join countrymen Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad in the Gujarat team. He becomes the fifth Afghan in the league which also has Mohammad Nabi (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Fazalhaq Farooqi (Sunrisers Hyderabad) from the country.
But why Rahmanullah Gurbaz?
The Afghan batsman is a regular name in the T20 leagues, having played for Khulna Titans, Barbados Tridents, Multan Sultans, Islamabad United, and Jaffna Kings. He is also an integral part of Afghanistan’s limited-overs set-up.
So far, Rahmanullah Gurbaz amassed 531 runs in 18 T20I appearances for Afghanistan, averaging 29.5 including two half-centuries with his highest individual score being 79. He was recently seen in action during PSL 2022, where he scored 139 runs from six games at an average of 27.80.
Led by Hardik Pandya, Gujarat Titans will begin their IPL 2022 campaign against Lucknow Super Giants on March 28 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Gujarat Titans full squad: Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, R Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Gurkeerat Singh, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudarshan
