The story of Afghan’s Fearless All-rounder - Gulbadin Naib
Born on
June 4, 1991, in Logar, Afghanistan, during a time of conflict; Gulbadin’s
journey to international cricket was anything but easy. Before being fully
committed to cricket, Gulbadin was passionate about fitness and bodybuilding,
which helped shape his strength on the field.
Gulbadin’s first step into the world stage was the Division Five
Tournament 2008 where he became the youngest player of the winning team. Later,
he made his ODI debut in 2011 against Canada and his T20I debut in 2012 against
the Netherlands. He quickly became known as an all-rounder, who is capable of
bowling right-arm medium-fast and delivering quick runs in the lower order. His
breakthrough came when he scored 57 runs in the 2011 ACC T20 Cup final, helping
Afghanistan lift the title, it then followed with a 44 against England in the
2012 ICC T20 World Cup.
Gulbadin achieved his career’s biggest milestones in April 2019, when he
was appointed as the captain of Afghanistan’s ODI team ahead of the ICC World
Cup 2019. During that time, he also produced his career-best bowling
performance of 6 wickets for 43 runs against Ireland.
Throughout his career, Gulbadin has played nearly 90 ODIs and 80 T20Is,
scoring over 2,00 runs and taking more than 100 wickets across formats; he even
played in several domestic and international leagues, including the Afghanistan
Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League and now with Lumbini Lions in the
Nepal Premier League.
He is known for his dedication, courage, hardwork and the unbreakable
spirit, which he has been caring from day 1 and now inspiring the young
generation across the world to keep moving forward.
