[Watch] Rahmanullah Gurbaz picks between Virat Kohli and Babar Azam's cover drives
Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz thought long and hard before choosing Indian superstar Virat Kohli over Pakistan's Babar Azam in cover drives.
Considered two of the best batters in world cricket, Kohli and Babar have a healthy ongoing rivalry. While Kohli remains arguably the most accomplished batter of the generation, the former Pakistan skipper has been the best across formats over the last two years.
Gurbaz also chose T20s over T10 and picked MS Dhoni over young sensation Rinku Singh to finish the innings. There were also several non-cricketing questions related to movies and food, for which the 22-year-old made some interesting choices.
In a Q&A of this or that by ESPNcricinfo, the Afghanistan opener made several difficult choices with proper justifications.
Here is a video of the same:
Gurbaz also chose Afghanistan's win against Pakistan over victory against England at the 2023 ODI World Cup.
The Afghans impressed fans and experts with their over-achieving World Cup campaign, winning four out of nine games and finishing sixth. Also included were upset victories over Pakistan and England by eight wickets and 69 runs.
Meanwhile, Gurbaz had an inconsistent tournament, scoring 280 runs at an average of 31.11 and a strike rate of 98.93.
Yet, both his half-centuries came in the England and Pakistan wins, with the wicketkeeper-batter scoring 80 off 57 against the former and 65 off 53 against the latter.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz played for the victorious New York Strikers side in the recent Abu Dhabi T10 League
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was part of the title-winning New York Strikers unit in the recently concluded Abu Dhabi T10 League.
The 22-year-old provided the side with quick-fire starts and finished the tournament with an average of 22 and a terrific strike rate of over 169. Led by Kieron Pollard, the Strikers halted the two-time defending champions Deccan Gladiators' run in the grand finale, winning by seven wickets in the final over.
Finishing second on the points table with five wins in seven outings, the Strikers swept aside top-seeded Morrisville Samp Army in Qualifier One to advance to the final. Gurbaz was the star in that game, scoring a magnificent 56 off 28 deliveries to power the Strikers to a massive 121/5 in ten overs.
The seventh edition of the T10 League finished with Tom Kohler-Cadmore as the leading run-scorer with 368 runs and Qais Ahmed on top of the wicket-taking chart with 16 scalps.