Rahmanullah Gurbaz Wiki, Height, Age, Girlfriend, Family, Biography & More

 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is an Afghanistani cricketer who has represented the Afghanistan national team in many tournaments across the world. He has played for Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2022 and 2023 IPL seasons respectively. He is the first Afghan cricketer to score a century on ODI debut. He holds the record of scoring the highest IPL score by an Afghani player.

Wiki/Biography

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was born on Wednesday, 28 November 2001 (age 21 years; as of 2023) in Gurbuz district in Khost Province in Afghanistan. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He studied till 12th standard at Sheikh Amir High School in Khost Province. He was interested in studies and performed well in school exams; however, he did not pursue graduation to focus on cricket entirely. He used to play football in his neighbourhood during his childhood, but when he saw the warm welcome accorded to the former Afghanistani cricketers Nawroz Mangal and Noor Ali Zadran on their visit to his hometown, he started playing cricket hoping that he would also become a big cricketer and would also be given such welcome. He played cricket with a tennis ball with his friends in his neighbourhood. In 2014, he started playing professional cricket at Mohammad Khan Zadran Club which was a bit far from his home; however, his friend Qadir Gurbaz used to pick him up and drop him off at his home. Qadir also encouraged Rahmanullah to pursue his cricket dream with full confidence.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 8″

Weight (approx.): 70 kg

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Brown

Body Measurements (approx.): Chest 42″, Waist 32″, Biceps 13″

Family

He was born into a Gurbaz family.

Parents & Siblings

His father is a retired high school principal, and his mother is a homemaker. He has an elder brother named Afsar Ali Saadat.

Wife

He is unmarried.

Other Relatives

He has a cousin named Dawlat Gurbaz.

Relationships/Affairs

He is single.

Religion

He follows Islam. ^[1]Instagram – Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Career

Domestic

He was selected for Khost Province Under-17 due to his good performance in 2016 and later played in provincial tournaments. He was selected in 2017 for Mis Ainak Knights and played in the 2017 Shpageeza Cricket League and the 2018 Ahmad Shah Abdali 4-day Tournament. He also played for Boost Region in the domestic circuit.

International

Afghanistan Under-19 & Under-23

He was selected for the Afghanistan Under-19 in 2018 and played in the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He was the leading run-scorer for the Afghanistan Under-19 team in the 2018 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup and scored 117 runs in 4 matches. In 2018, he played for Afghanistan Under-23 in the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.

ODI

He played his debut ODI match on 21 January 2021 against Ireland at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and scored his maiden ODI century by scoring 127 runs off 127 balls in the match with 8 fours and 9 sixes.

He made 103 runs off 127 balls, with 6 fours and 3 sixes, against the Netherlands at West End Park International Cricket Stadium, Doha, Qatar on 23 January 2022. He scored 106 runs not out off 110 balls, with 7 fours and 4 sixes, against Bangladesh at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram, Bangladesh on 28 February 2022. He scored his maiden ODI half-century by scoring 53 runs off 55 balls, with 9 fours, against Sri Lanka at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka on 25 November 2022. In the ODI match against the same opposition at the same venue, two days later on 27 November 2022, he scored 68 runs off 73 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes.

T20I

He played his debut T20I match on 14 September 2019 against Zimbabwe at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur, Dhaka, Bangladesh and scored 43 runs off 24 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. He made his maiden T20I half-century by scoring 61 runs off 47 balls, with 4 fours and 4 sixes, against Zimbabwe at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram, Bangladesh on 20 September 2019. He scored 79 runs off 52 balls, with 6 fours and 5 sixes, against West Indies at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow, India on 17 November 2019. He scored 87 runs off 45 balls, with 6 fours and 7 sixes, against Zimbabwe at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 17 March 2021. He scored 84 runs off 45 balls, with 4 fours and 6 sixes, against Sri Lanka at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, UAE on 3 September 2022.

2021 & 2022 T20I World Cups

He played 5 matches in the 2021 T20I World Cup held in UAE and scored 85 runs at an average of 17 and a strike rate of 117.92 with the highest score of 46 runs. He played 3 matches in the 2022 T20I World Cup held in Australia and scored 68 runs at an average of 22.67 and a strike rate of 136 with the highest score of 30 runs.

Indian Premier League (IPL)

Rahmanullah Gurbaz was acquired by Gujarat Titans (GT) for the 2022 IPL season for his base price of Rs 50 lakhs; however, he did not get a chance to make his debut in the 2022 IPL season. He was traded to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) before the start of the 2023 IPL season. He played his debut IPL match on 1 April 2023 against Punjab Kings in Mohali, Punjab and scored 22 runs off 16 balls with 3 fours and 1 six. He made his maiden IPL half-century by scoring 57 runs off 44 balls, with 6 fours and 3 sixes, against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on 6 April 2023. He scored 81 runs off 39 balls at a strike rate of 207.69, with 5 fours and 7 sixes, against Gujarat Titans on 29 April 2023, which is the highest score in IPL by an Afghanistani player; KKR owner Shah Rukh Khan praised his batting skills after his swashbuckling innings.

.@RGurbaz_21 scored a power-packed 81 off just 39 deliveries & he becomes our 🔝 performer from the first innings of the #GTvKKR match in the #TATAIPL 👌🏻👌🏻

A look at his batting summary 🔽 pic.twitter.com/0IMBfh2UCx

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 29, 2023

Worldwide T20 Leagues

He has played for many teams in different leagues in different countries. In the inaugural edition of the Afghanistan Premier League in 2018, he played for Paktia and for Kabul Eagles in the later editions.

In the 2019-20 Bangladesh Premier League, he played for Khulna Tigers and for Fortune Barishal and Rangpur Rangers in the later editions; he scored a half-century off 19 balls on his debut in the league.

He has played for Barbados Tridents and Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League.

He has played for Multan Sultans in the 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Islamabad United for the 2022 PSL season.

He played for Jaffna Kings in the 2021 and 2022 Lanka Premier League and for Kandy Tuskers in the later editions; he scored 53 runs off 22 balls on his debut in the league.

He played for Delhi Bulls in the Abu Dhabi T10 League in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

He played for Kathmandu Kings XI in Nepal’s Everest Premier League.

He played for Sharjah Warriors in the 2022 UAE T20 League.

Jersey Number

He wears jersey number 21 for Afghanistan national team and for KKR in IPL.

Facts/Trivia

• He is a right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman and known for his power hitting.
  

  Rahmanullah Gurbaz during a wicketkeeping practice session

• His nickname is Gul. ^[2]YouTube – Afghanistan Cricket Board

• Rahmanullah belonged to a middle-class family. His father wanted him to study hard and get a good job; however, he wanted to become a cricketer. He wanted to buy a cricket kit without putting a burden on his family, hence he talked to the contractor who was building his house and convinced the contractor to give him a job as a labourer. He told the contractor that he would work in secrecy without telling anyone. He worked for 17-18 days, earned the required money and bought the cricket kit.
  

  A childhood picture of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wearing red and black cap)

• His brother Saadat saw his cricket kit and asked him how he got the money. Rahmanullah told him about his work as a labourer which made Saadat very angry following which he scolded him and the contractor for their actions; however, Saadat was impressed by Rahmanullah’s love and dedication for cricket.

• When Rahmanullah was selected for the Khost Province team, he had to buy a cricket kit to play in the tournament in Kabul, but he had no money. He approached his brother Saadat who thought that 4000 Afghani rupees were enough to buy the kit; however, when they went to the sports store, the kit was available for 22000 Afghani rupees. Although Saadat had less money, he took a loan and bought the cricket kit for Rahmanullah. ^[3]YouTube – Afghanistan Cricket Board

• He talked about his struggles and the support of his family in an interview and said that someone stole his bat from the cricket kit, two days before the Provincial Tournament. The bat alone would cost 9000 Afghani rupees, and since he did not have the money, he approached his cousin Dawlat Gurbaz to help him. Although Dawlat’s monthly earning was 9000 Afghani rupees, Dawlat borrowed money from one of his exchequer friends and bought the bat for Rahmanullah.
  

  Rahmanullah Gurbaz taking a selfie with his friends

• He used to bunk school to play cricket with his friends.

• His favourite batsman is AB de Villiers. He has watched Villiers’ videos since his teenage years to hone his skills. He also likes Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
  

  Rahmanullah Gurbaz with Virat Kohli

  

  Rahmanullah Gurbaz with MS Dhoni

• In his leisure time, he likes to read books related to self-development.
  

  Rahmanullah Gurbaz likes to read books about self-development

• He is the first Afghanistani cricketer to score an ODI century on his debut.

• There was a minor banter between Rahmanullah and Hardik Pandya, Indian captain and GT captain, during their match on 29 April 2023 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Rahmanullah was seen smiling during the banter after hitting Pandya for a six on the first delivery of the over; however, when Pandya was going to bowl the next delivery, he was seen pointing his finger towards Rahmanullah angrily. ^[4]Times Now
  

  Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hardik Pandya engaged in a fiery duel during their match