IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans Pick Rahmanullah Gurbaz Over Shortlisted Candidate Ben McDermott As Jason Roy's Replacement – Reports

Gujarat Titans (GT) named Afghanistan’s young keeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz as a replacement for Jason Roy in the upcoming IPL 2022 tournament, and it has now been revealed that one of their shortlisted choices was Australia’s Ben McDermott.

ESPNCricinfo reported that Gurbaz, 20, is picked at his base price of INR 50 lakhs for one season. It will be the first IPL stint for the 20-year-old. He will join the Afghanistan pair of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad at Titans. While Rashid had been acquired by the franchise pre-auction, Noor, who recently featured in the Under-19 World Cup, was bought at the auction.

Gujarat Titans will be making their Indian Premier League debut along with Lucknow Super Giants, had to search for a replacement after Jason Roy pulled out of the IPL 2022 citing family reasons and bio-bubble fatigue. He was bought by Titans at the auction for his base price of INR 2 crores in the auction.

Ben McDermott Was One Of The Shortlisted Candidates To Replace Jason Roy: Reports  

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been chosen as a backup for Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade, who is likely to open alongside Shubman Gill. It was also reported that Gurbaz was part of the shortlist of contenders Titans considered as Roy’s replacement.

The list also included Australian batter Ben McDermott, who recently hit his maiden T20I half-century during the home series against Sri Lanka after having finished as the leading run-scorer in the 2021-22 BBL. However, he was not selected as his availability was a hurdle.

Meanwhile, Gurbaz has already gained loads of experience across various leagues. He has played for Multan Sultans and Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Khulna Tigers in Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), and Kandy Tuskers in Lanka Premier League (LPL).

Reports also stated that Titans’ management opted for another keeper-batter keeping in mind the ongoing Wriddhiman Saha-Boria Majumdar controversy and they wanted to be sure of backups being available in case something happens.

Gujarat Titans squad for IPL 2022 season:

Hardik Pandya (c), Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudharshan.

Also Read: Think He Still Has Many Years Of Test Cricket Left In Him – Reetinder Sodhi On Ravichandran Ashwin