'Biggest league in the world' - Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz's ultimate praise for IPL

Afghanistan batter Ibrahim Zadran reminisced about his early days watching the Indian Premier League (IPL), supporting the Deccan Chargers led by legendary Adam Gilchrist. Wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz described the Indian Premier League as one of the biggest cricket tournaments in the world.

Afghanistan national team cricketers, including Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, garnered attention for their standout performances in the Indian Premier League. They made significant contributions while representing various franchises in the marquee tournament.

Rashid Khan represented SunRisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL. The leg-spinner has picked up 149 wickets in 121 matches at an impressive economy rate of 6.82. Gurbaz, Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Mujeeb ur Rahman were picked by teams in the IPL 2024.

I Will Get Lots Of Experience From Them - Ibrahim Zadran

In a video shared by Star Sports on X (formerly known as Twitter), Ibrahim Zadran expressed his dream of playing in the IPL, seeing it as a significant achievement and an opportunity to gain experience from senior players like Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.

"Yeah, I still remember the first time of the IPL. I was supporting the Deccan Chargers. The Deccan Chargers was my favorite team. Adam Gilchrist was the captain of that team. Rohit Sharma was also there. There are lots of teams in the IPL. Any team I play for will be a great achievement for me. I want to play with Virat Kohli or MS Dhoni. Rohit Sharma, they are the most senior players. I'm pretty sure I will get lots of experience from them," Ibrahim Zadran said.

Ibrahim Zadran has yet to get a chance to play in the IPL. The right-handed batter has represented Afghanistan in 44 T20I matches, scoring 1105 runs at an average of 29.08 and a strike rate of 107.28. He scored 231 runs in eight matches in the T20 World Cup 2024, where Afghanistan reached the semifinals.

That's What We Got From The IPL - Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Rahmanullah Gurbaz described the IPL as one of the world's largest leagues, emphasizing that it exposes players to top-quality bowlers globally. He highlighted that the IPL provides valuable experience since Afghan players may not face top teams in bilateral series.

"IPL is one of the biggest leagues in the world, I can say, I think. If you play IPL, you're almost used to all the bowlers in the world. So, I can say it's helped us a lot, and the pressure that was on our shoulders was there. We didn't get that many opportunities to play against big teams in series. So, if you don't play against them, there will be some pressure because the big names will be there. So, in the IPL, we finished all the pressure because we played against every bowler. So, that's what we got from the IPL," Rahmanullah Gurbaz said.

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