IPL: Gujarat Titans sign Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz as Jason Roy’s replacement

Gujarat Titans have signed Rahmanullah Gurbaz as a replacement for the England batter Jason Roy for the Indian Premier League 2022, the league said in a statement.

An Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter, Gurbaz has played 20 T20Is, and has 534 runs against his name with the help of 3 half-centuries and a strike rate close to 138 in the T20 internationals.

Gurbaz joins Gujarat Titans at his base price of INR 50 Lakh. His signing makes him the third Afghanistan cricketer alongside Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad to feature for the franchise.

Gujarat Titans, who will be making their IPL debut this year, will face Lucknow Super Giants in their first game of the IPL 2022 on March 28 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

Jason Roy had pulled out of the tournament citing the need to take a break. He was picked up by the franchise for his base price of Rs 2 crore at the recent player auction.

“With everything going on in the world over the last 3 years, it’s added up and taken a toll on me,” Roy had said. “I feel it’s only right I spend some quality time with my family. As well as spending time working on myself and my game over the next couple of months leading in to a busy year.”

Gujarat, one of the two new teams in a 10-team affair this time, will open their campaign with a match against Lucknow, and they will finish their league stage with a match against Bangalore.