Gulbadin Naib

Some Lesser Known Facts About Gulbadin Naib

• Gulbadin spent his childhood in Peshawar, Pakistan, as a refugee and was 11 years old when he realized that he was an Afghan.

• Gulbadin loved watching WWE since childhood and wanted to make a career in bodybuilding before joining cricket.

  

• Gulbadin was the youngest member of the Afghanistan cricket team which won the Division Five tournament in 2008

• Gulbadin was featured in the documentary Out of the Ashes in 2010 in which he was shown bodybuilding in a gym in Kabul.

• Gulbadin scored his maiden half-century in T20 cricket while playing for Afghan Cheetahs against the Faisalabad Wolves during the 2011-12 Faysal Bank T20 Cup tournament; he scored 68 runs from 42 balls in the match.

• Gulbadin considers Arnold Schwarzenegger as his bodybuilding idol.

• Gulbadin helped Afghanistan to win their third ACC Twenty20 Cup title as he scored 57 runs from 50 balls in the finals in 2011.

• Gulbadin loves to flex his biceps as his trademark celebration after taking a wicket in the match.

  

• Gulbadin took his first One-Day International wicket against Ireland in the second match of their tour to Ireland in 2012.

• In May 2019, Gulbadin gave an all-round performance when he took his first five-wicket haul against Ireland and scored 43 runs in the match.

• On 24 June 2019, Gulbadin played his 100th international match for Afghanistan against Bangladesh and completed 1000 ODI runs in the same match.

• Gulbadin made his IPL debut on 7 May 2024 against Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The Delhi Capitals brought him as a replacement for Mitchell Marsh who was ruled out due to a hamstring injury.

• During the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, while playing in a Super 8 match against Australia, Gulbadin took 4 wickets for 20 runs registering his career-best figures while coming as the 8th bowling option.

• Gulbadin made headlines when he faked an injury during a match against Bangladesh in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. He reportedly faked the injury as directed by the coach to delay the game.