Gulbadin Naib is an Afghan cricketer. He bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium. In April 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board made him the new ODI captain before the 2019 Cricket World Cup, replacing Asghar Afghan. After the 2019 World Cup, where Afghanistan lost all their matches, Rashid Khan became Afghanistan’s captain in all three formats.
Naib led Afghanistan to a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Games. In September 2018, he was named in Balkh’s squad for the first Afghanistan Premier League season. In October 2018, he was picked for the Sylhet Sixers squad in the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League after the draft.
Gulbadin Naib Records and Achievements
Afghanistan scored 182/6 in their opening match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 against New Zealand at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. The innings was led by Gulbadin Naib, who hit a fast half-century, scoring 63 off 35 balls. His knock included 3 fours and 4 sixes.
Naib completed 1,000 T20I runs during the match. With his 7th run, he crossed the milestone and now has 1,056 runs in T20Is. He also shared a big 79-run partnership with Sediqullah Atal, who scored 29 off 24 balls.
Naib has played 82 T20Is, scoring runs at an average of 21.55 and a strike rate of 123.50. This was his 4th T20I fifty and also his career-best score. In T20 World Cups, he has scored 400 runs in 26 matches at an average of 20, with one fifty.
Gulbadin Naib Career Stats
Gulbadin Naib has played 89 ODIs, 82 T20Is, and 5 First-Class matches. In ODIs, he has scored 1332 runs in 89 matches. In bowling, he has taken 74 wickets in 89 matches. His best bowling is 6/43. He has 3 four-wicket hauls and 1 five-wicket haul.
In T20Is, he has scored 1056 runs in 82 matches. In bowling, he has taken 35 wickets in 82 matches. His best bowling is 4/20. He has 1 four-wicket haul.
In First-Class cricket, he has scored 313 runs in 5 matches. In bowling, he has taken 14 wickets in 5 matches. His best bowling is 5/29. He has 2 five-wicket hauls.
| Batting | ||||||
| Format | Mat | Runs | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| ODIs | 89 | 1332 | 0 | 5 | 115 | 33 |
| T20Is | 82 | 1056 | 0 | 4 | 77 | 48 |
| FC | 5 | 313 | 0 | 3 | 39 | 6 |
| Bowling | ||||||
| Format | Mat | Wkts | BBI | 4w | 5w | 10w |
| ODIs | 89 | 74 | 6/43 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| T20Is | 82 | 35 | 4/20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| FC | 5 | 14 | 5/29 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Gulbadin Naib’s Personal Life
Gulbadin Naib grew up in Peshawar, Pakistan, and as a child, he did not even fully understand his Afghan identity. He only found out he was Afghan properly when he was around 11 years old, after learning about Afghanistan in school. That is when he started asking his parents questions and reading more about his country.
His family originally worked in the clothing and fabric import-export business, something they had done for generations, even before Pakistan existed. His father always dreamed of returning to Afghanistan, but because of the war, they ended up living as refugees in Pakistan.
Naib lived in the Kacha Ghadi refugee camp in Peshawar, where life was very hard. The camp struggled with basic things like electricity, clean drinking water, and sanitation.
He did not even know Afghanistan had a cricket team until he saw them play Grade 2 cricket in Peshawar in 2003. What really motivated him was when a neighbor from the refugee camp got selected for the Afghanistan Under-15 team, and people were shocked because it meant the boy could travel abroad, possibly to Dubai.
Naib also mentioned that two of his brothers live abroad, one in Canada and one in France, but he personally does not want to leave Afghanistan. He wants his sons to grow up learning Pashto and living as Afghans in Afghanistan. He feels regret that even though he can read and write Urdu, he cannot properly write Pashto.
FAQs
Q. Where did Gulbadin Naib grow up?
A. Gulbadin Naib grew up in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Q. When did Gulbadin Naib properly realize he was Afghan?
A. Gulbadin Naib realized it around the age of 11 after learning about Afghanistan in school.
Q. How did cricket first come into his life?
A. Gulbadin Naib started playing tape-ball cricket after seeing how popular cricket was in Pakistan.
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