IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans to sign an Afghanistan batter as Jason Roy’s replacement

Last month, England opener Jason Roy pulled out of IPL 2022 citing the challenge of staying in the tournament bubble for an extended period. Roy was signed by the newly-added IPL franchise, Gujarat Titans, for his base price of INR 2 crore at the mega auction.

According to Cricbuzz, Gujarat Titans are all set to recruit Afghan batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz in place of Roy.

Gurbaz, who has featured in nine ODIs and 20 T20Is so far, had a base price of Rs 50 lakh but went unsold at the two-day auction in Bengaluru.

The 20-year-old opener, however, has a loads of experience of playing franchise cricket in the Asian sub-continent. He has represented Multan Sultans and Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Khulna Tigers in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and Kandy Tuskers in Lanka Premier League (LPL).

Gurbaz can also keep wickets for the Titans in the initial phase of IPL 2022, considering their first-choice wicket-keeper, Matthew Wade, will be available for the season from the second week. Another option available with them is of Wriddhiman Saha, who has been in a rough patch of late.

Gurbaz’s entry might even lessen the worry of head coach Ashish Nehra and captain Hardik Pandya.

Gujarat Titans squad for IPL 2022 season:

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.

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March 08, 2022 at 06:37PM