He was picked up the defending champions during the IPL 2025 auction for INR 2 crores.
Defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have faced a major blow ahead of the upcoming IPL 2025 season with their new Afghan recruit Rahmanullah Gurbaz suffering a Grade 2 quadriceps injury. To make matters worse, the 23-year-old wicketkeeper batter is also suffering from a bony hip flexor injury.
The news was confirmed by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) earlier today via a post on their official social media handle on X (formerly Twitter).
Subsequently, Gurbaz has been withdrawn from the Afghanistan squad for the ongoing ODI series against Zimbabwe with 19-year-old Mohammad Ishaq being named as replacement.
Notably, Gurbaz, who was a part of the KKR setup last year in their title-winning campaign was once again picked up by the franchise in last month’s IPL 2025 auction for INR 2 crores.
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Mujeeb Ur Rahman withdrawn after being named in ODI squad
On the other hand, spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman who was initially named in the ODI squad has now been dropped after ACB confirmed that he has been rested by the management in a bid to “not to rush him back” after injury.
After being sidelined for five months with a right phalanx sprain, Mujeeb returned to competitive cricket on November 21 in the Abu Dhabi T10. The off-spinner was then selected for Afghanistan’s white-ball squad for the Zimbabwe tour.
“After careful evaluation of Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s recovery process, the team management has decided not to rush him back. He will be given a rest from the #ZIMvAFG ODI series, which begins today in Harare,” ACB posted on X.
Updated Afghanistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODIs:
Mohammad Ishaq Shirzad (wk), Rahmat Shah, Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, AM Ghazanfar, Nangeyalia Kharote, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Malik, Bilal Sami, Naveed Zadran
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