New Delhi. This is probably the youngest opening pair in world cricket. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran of Afghanistan (Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran), are both only 22 years old but have amazing maturity in their batting. Both are adept at setting the ‘tone’ of batting according to the situation. While the T20 World Cup 2024 has seen most of the giants struggle, the bats of both have been scoring a lot of runs. Afghanistan have won all three of their matches so far to qualify for the Super 8s and the opening pair has been a major contributor to this performance. The Afghan team easily defeated Papua New Guinea by 7 wickets in their third match.
Gurbaz and Zadran are among the top-5 batsmen of the current tournament. Wicketkeeper batsman Gurbaz has scored 167 runs (avg. 55.66, strike rate 154.62) in 3 matches with two fifties, while Zadran has scored 114 runs (avg. 38, strike rate 153.33) with one half century in 3 matches. matches and is number four in the list. After last year’s ODI World Cup (World Cup 2023), the duo’s impressive performance in the T20 World Cup is also a sign of their bright future. There are special reasons for this amazing ‘tuning’ between these two Afghanistan openers. Both hail from the same village in Afghanistan and understand each other’s game very well. Gurbaz said in an interview, ‘Both of us have the same hair. We play for the same club. Opening at Under-16 and Under-19 levels.
So far, two centuries have been shared
It is not easy to score runs on slow wickets with uneven bounce in T20 World Cup 2024. Veterans like Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson have also struggled but Gurbaz-Zhadran have so far scored runs at a good strike rate and average here. Despite the dominance of bowlers and batsmen, T20 World Cup 2024 has witnessed only 4 centuries so far, 2 of which are by this Afghan pair. This included the tournament’s highest stand of 154 runs so far (against Uganda). Both of them have also shared a partnership of 103 runs against New Zealand. However, these two could not play a big innings in the match against Papua New Guinea.
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Afghan team has defeated New Zealand
Afghanistan’s impressive win against a strong team like New Zealand shows their rising status in the T20 format. Let us tell you that this is Gurbaz’s third T20 World Cup. In his first T20 World Cup in 2021, he scored 85 runs in 5 matches and in 2022, he scored 68 runs in three matches. Zadran, on the other hand, scored 80 runs in three matches in his first World Cup in 2022.
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The Afghan team has been playing the T20 World Cup since 2010
As for the Afghanistan team, they have been a part of the T20 World Cup since 2010 and are playing their 7th World Cup. His performances so far in the current tournament have raised hopes of Rashid Khan’s side going beyond the Super 8s but this will only be possible if he continues his impressive performances against experienced teams. Afghanistan team has played 25 matches in the T20 World Cup so far, out of which they have won 10 and lost 15. (Data till June 14 Afghanistan-Papua New Guinea match)
Both of them also shone in ODI World Cup 2023
Before this performance in the T20 World Cup, Gurbaz and Zadran have also impressed in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Zadran was Afghanistan’s top scorer with 376 runs in 9 matches of this World Cup held in India. In the match against Australia, he played an unbeaten innings of 129 runs. On the other hand, Gurbaz scored 280 runs in 9 matches with the help of two half-centuries. The special thing is that he scored these runs at a strike rate of 98.93.
Tags: Afghanistan Cricket, ICC T20 World Cup, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, T20 World Cup
First published: June 16, 2024, 06:48 IST