Afghanistan’s explosive batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz recently represented Cape Town Samp Army in the inaugural Zim Afro T10. This year, Gurbaaz had a decent IPL season with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and also performed well for his national side in the series against Bangladesh. Wicketkeeper-batter Gurbaz was roped in by Samp Army in Zim Afro T10 for his quick batting style which was quite evident throughout the tournament. Gurbaz registered 282 runs in nine matches, including two half-centuries – both against Harare Hurricanes.
The 21-year-old has been quite impressive in international cricket and now has his eyes set on the upcoming Asia Cup and ODI World Cup 2023. Gurbaz has featured in almost all international league tournaments but there is still a format that he finds a bit hard to deal with.
In an exclusive conversation with CricketNext, Gurbaz revealed the challenges in T10 while he also opened up about his IPL experiences, preparations for the World Cup and his reason behind picking the bat and playing cricket.
Excerpts
How has Zim Afro T10 been for you and how has been your experience of the tournament?
I think T10 in Zimbabwe is a new experience. I played T10 three times in Abu Dhabi, but it’s my first time here. Everything’s totally changed – condition, weather, wickets. But still, I can say it’s a very good platform for everyone, especially for the youngsters of Zimbabwe. Very good opportunity, I enjoyed it so much and I’m glad to be here and be part of this tournament.
You scored a half-century against Harare Hurricanes, it was a terrific knock. I wanna know how you prepared for it, given it’s a T10 format where you have to start the attack from the very first ball.
Honestly, I didn’t work for this because before that we had an ODI series against Bangladesh. So, all focus was on that. Now as well, I’m only focused on my Asia Cup and World Cup. I didn’t work for T10, to be honest with you. Because cricket is the same. You just need to believe in your shots and you do what you can do. I mean, I just do whatever I want to do and it’s a very short format, I need to go from the very first ball. It’s not easy. People think that T10 cricket is easy, but it’s very hard, especially for both batsman and bowler because it’s only for two hours and batters have to score more in those two hours. So yeah, it’s just a game. I think it’s a game for the fans to enjoy. I’m just going to play in a positive way.
If we see Zim Afro T10, then senior players like S Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Mohd. Hafeez, etc. have performed significantly better than the youngsters. Why is it like that? Do you find any particular reason for it?
See, experience is experience. You can’t compare anything with experience. They have a lot of experience with cricket around the world. They play everywhere. They know the conditions really well. They know whatever they want to do in which situation. So I think, we have more energy, we will be more active on the ground but still, they have more experience. They can use their experience in front of the young stars and that’s why they did really well.
In the last match, Sreesanth defended the eight runs. He defended three runs in three balls which was not acceptable to us because we thought we were winning. But he did that and that was his experience. Do you remember the World Cup final? What did he do? If you have that confidence within, of course, you can defend whatever you want. I think I can say Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan and Mohammad Nabi, they are old-experienced players. And I can’t say old, but experienced players. They did really
well and we really enjoyed their performance. We really get motivated by them and then we work harder to perform in front of them.
You have played in IPL – a T20 format and here it was the T10 format. How are both different and how is batting different in both tournaments?
To be honest with you, it’s all the same for me. I always like to play positively, whether it’s T20 or ODI or T10. The only difference in T10 is that you don’t have that much time to spend on the wicket. You have to go for it. I’m the same in both T20 and T10. I think there is a little bit more time in T20 than in T10. T10 is a bit harder for me because if you play two-three dot balls in an hour, then you will start thinking of doing something special. You want to do something special for the team because then you don’t have time. So, I think you need to work hard for T10 because you need to score. That’s the only difference between T20 and T10.
How was your IPL experience and how did it help you in all other tournaments?
I played all the tournaments around the world – all the leagues but I can say that the IPL experience was totally different from everything else. It helped me a lot. I was with Gujarat Titans last to last year, I didn’t play but still I got a lot of experience from them.
Last year, I was traded to KKR and there I played all the matches. There were totally different players, than the ones I had seen on TV. Earlier I thought that I cannot play with them but then I did. So, it was like a dream. But now I have got the confidence that I can play against everyone. I don’t mind who is against me and who is with me. Earlier I used to get low on confidence but after IPL, my confidence has come to the level of other players. So, yeah, I can say IPL helped me a lot.
Afghanistan’s going to tour India for the very first time in the white-ball bilateral series in January 2024. How important is this going to be for you and your team?
We haven’t played much against big teams like India. We really want to play against them. I think this is going to be very good for a long opportunity for us to play against India and then Pakistan. It will help us a lot. In the series, we will get a lot of confidence. Currently, we don’t have the confidence to play against them but still, I can say that we can play against every team because the Afghanistan team is now on that level. So, it’ll be an exciting experience for all the fans to watch us play against India.
Afghanistan have for long used India as their base. So, how India’s assistance has helped the Afghanistan cricket team and especially youngsters like you?
When we had our home ground in India, we were camping there, we were practicing there and we were there for quite a long time. We really appreciate all the help given to Afghanistan by India Cricket. It’s really nice to help Afghanistan cricket because in this situation we need more help. We have a lot of friends in Indian cricket. I really love them because when I was in the IPL, I saw all of them giving us so much love. They gave me a lot of confidence and they gave me a lot of love and support. So, I’m so thankful to them and hopefully, we see this again and again in the future as well.
You’re an inspiration to many youngsters in Afghanistan, they look up to you but who’s your inspiration? Any player who has motivated you in your cricketing journey?
I think everyone knows who my inspiration was, who my ideal was, and why I started playing cricket. So, I started playing cricket because of MS Dhoni. I love MS Dhoni. I really love to talk to him, see him every time. And whenever I have gotten the opportunity to see him, I have always gone there. So, he’s the one for me.
What was the most special thing that you shared with MS Dhoni and how did you feel when you met him for the first time?
I will remember his words forever. I still have everything which I got from him, I have all those things in my bag. Whenever I feel a little bit stressed, I just see those things and start thinking about why I started playing cricket. That gives me a lot of confidence. The first time I met MS, that was the time when I was with Gujarat Titans. I was not able to talk to him because I was under so much pressure. But the way he treated me, the way he talked to me, he gave me a lot of confidence and then I had a word with him. This year when I met him, I was very confident and I talked to him about cricket, lifestyle, etc. I asked him, how can I improve my lifestyle? How can I keep improving my cricket? He had a word with me and even now I have all the things written in my notebook. I noted down everything which helped me a lot and will also help me in the future. So, yeah, he will be my idol, forever.
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