IPL 2024: Delhi Capitals rope in Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib as Mitchell Marsh's replacement

Gulbadin Naib will receive INR 50 lakhs from Delhi Capitals for the IPL 2024.

Delhi Capitals (DC) registered a nail-biting win on Wednesday against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. They had some good performances from their key players, which helped them register a crucial win. With that win, they jumped to sixth position on the points table with eight points. DC still have five games to go and needs to win four. With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 moving towards the business end, DC have made a big announcement.

They have signed Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib for the remainder of the tournament in place of Mitchell Marsh. Notably, DC have suffered injuries to their key players. Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, and David Warner also missed games due to niggles. However, Marsh was part of the first four matches but suffered a tear in his right hamstring and had to miss matches after that.

IPL 2024: Afghanistan Star Gulbadin Naib replaced Mitchell Marsh for remaining games

Marsh went to Australia on April 12 for rehab and was supposed to come back to join the team. However, he couldn’t get fit in time, and for precautionary reasons, he was later ruled out. With the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 coming up in June and Marsh leading Australia in the mega event, the all-rounder has decided to stay at home. The DC head coach, Ricky Ponting, confirmed his unavailability for the remainder of the season.

As a result, the Delhi-based franchise has signed the Afgan all-rounder. Naib has been signed for his base price of INR 50 lakhs. He went unsold at the IPL 2024 auction. The 32-year-old has represented Afghanistan in 65 T20I internationals and scored 807 runs at a strike rate of 124.93.

In a media release through the official IPL website, it was stated, “Delhi Capitals have signed Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib as a replacement for Mitchell Marsh for the remainder of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Marsh has been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. Naib has represented Afghanistan in 82 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and 65 T20 Internationals (T20Is) so far. A right-handed batter and a medium pacer, this will be his first stint in the Tata IPL. Naib signs in for his reserve price of INR 50 lakhs.”

He has also scored three half-centuries with a best of 57 runs. With the ball, Naib has taken 26 wickets at an economy rate of 8.19. He was Afghanistan’s highest run-scorer in the three-match T20I series between India and Afghanistan, which was played before the IPL 2024. Gulbadin Naib scored 112 runs in three innings at a blistering strike rate of 193.10.

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