Gujarat Titans (GT) are likely to fill the vacant spot for an overseas opener in their squad with Afghanistan youngster Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The vacancy was created when English opener Jason Roy pulled out of the upcoming 10-team Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The 20-year-old Gurbaz unexpectedly went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega auction as franchises went for big names.
"We are in talks with him and most likely he will be added in the squad," a source in the Gujarat-based franchise told Sports Tak.
The source also revealed that the franchise is also seeking official permission from IPL governing council in this regard.
The wicketkeeper-batter had a base price of Rs 50 lakh in the auction. On the other hand, Roy was roped in for his base price of Rs 2 lakh as no other franchise showed interest in the explosive opener who played a few games for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) last season.
The Afghan batter is known for his big-hitting. In T20 format, he has scored 1,620 runs from 68 innings at an average of 24.17 including 10 half-centuries. The young batter has an impressive strike rate of 151.82. On the international stage, he has represented Afghanistan on 20 occasions and scored 534 runs at an average of 26.70 including three half-centuries. In T20Is, he has a strike rate of 137.62. The hard-hitting opener deals mostly in boundaries. He has hit 113 sixes in his T20 career so far.
However, Gurbaz was not in the best of forms in T20 World Cup 2021. He scored just 85 runs from five league stages game including a 46-run knock against minnows Scotland.
In the ODI format, he has scored three centuries so far. He does not have a single half-century from nine ODIs as he has been able to convert the fifties into hundreds on all occasions. His most recent century came against Bangladesh last month where he scored 106 not out in the run chase.
Hardik Pandya-led GT will begin their maiden IPL campaign against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on March 28 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
