Gujarat rope in this destructive opener as Jason Roy's replacement

After a lot of dilemmas over the replacement of Jason Roy, the Gujarat franchise have found someone to step into his shoes. The team has signed Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the Afghanistan wicket-keeper batsman as Roy’s replacement.

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Like Roy, Gurbaz is also an opener and likes to play attacking game. But how useful the recruitment will be, that will be revealed with time only. This recruitment also ends speculations of Indian veteran Suresh Raina getting a team ahead of the Indian T20 League’s 15th edition.

Rahmanulla Gurbaz has appeared in 9 ODIs for Afghanistan. He has been excellent for his nation in these appearances as he has scored 428 runs in these games at an average of 53.50. He also has scored three centuries already in his young ODI career.

Gurbaz has taken the field for Afghanistan in 20 T20Is. His aggregate runs in the T20Is are 534 at an average of 26.70.  Though in the case of T20s, the strike rate is probably a more essential factor than the average of a batsman. In this case, Gurbaz has an impressive strike rate of 137.62.

Gurbaz's overall T20 career is 69 matches long. In these matches, he has scored 1620 runs at an average of 24.17. He has a great strike rate of 151.82 in these matches and also has 10 half-centuries to his name.

The decision of the Gujarat franchise to go with Gurbaz seems justified if the strike rate and the role of the two players are taken into account. Both Roy and Gurbaz appear to be players with a positive attitude and an attacking mindset. But Gurbaz’s temperament is something still to be tested at the highest level.