Rahmanullah Gurbaz is an Afghan cricketer who plays as a right-handed opening batsman and a wicket-keeper. He is known for his explosive batting skills and his ability to score big runs in limited-overs cricket. He made his international debut for Afghanistan in September 2019 and became the first Afghan batsman to score a century on ODI debut in January 2021.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was born on 28 November 2001 in Gurbuz district of Khost province in Afghanistan. His father, Abul Kashem, was a businessman and his mother, Nurjahan Begum, was a homemaker. He has two brothers, Shukrullah and Zekrullah, and one sister. He belongs to the Gurbaz tribe of Afghanistan. He was passionate about cricket since his childhood and his father introduced him to the game when he was nine years old. He studied at Sheikh Amir High School in Khost province and later moved to Dhaka, Bangladesh for higher education.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz is married to his cousin, Samia Parvin, who is a psychology student at Dhaka University. They tied the knot on 22 March 2019 and have a daughter who was born in November 2020. He follows Islam and his hobbies include fishing, playing video games and watching movies. His favourite quote is "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."
Rahmanullah Gurbaz started playing cricket as a batsman and joined the Bangladesh Cricket Board's pace bowling academy in 2015. He played for the Afghanistan under-15 and under-17 teams before making his first-class debut for Chittagong Division in the 2017–18 National Cricket League on 13 October 2017. He made his List A debut for Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity in the 2017–18 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League on 5 February 2018. He was the joint-leading wicket-taker for Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity in the 2017–18 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, with 17 dismissals in eight matches. He made his Twenty20 debut for Bangladesh A against Ireland A on 13 August 2018. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Dhaka Platoon in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League. He made his Twenty20 debut for Dhaka Platoon in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League on 12 December 2019.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2018 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. In November 2019, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh. Later the same month he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the men's cricket tournament at the 2019 South Asian Games. The Afghanistan team won the gold medal, after they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the final. In January 2020, he was named in Afghanistan's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Pakistan. The following month, he was named in Afghanistan's Test squad for their one-off match against Zimbabwe. He made his T20I debut for Afghanistan, against Zimbabwe, on 14 September 2019. He scored a match-winning knock of 87 runs off 45 balls and was named the player of the match. In January 2021, he became the first batsman from Afghanistan to score a century on debut in a One Day International (ODI) match. He scored 127 runs off 127 balls against Ireland and helped Afghanistan post a total of 287 runs. He also became the first Afghan player to score an ODI century as a wicket-keeper. In April 2021, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for their series against Zimbabwe. He scored 59 runs off 28 balls in the second T20I and helped Afghanistan chase down a target of 134 runs with ten wickets remaining. In September 2021, he was named in Afghanistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. He scored 79 runs off 52 balls against Pakistan in the Super 12 stage and became the first Afghan player to score a T20I fifty against Pakistan. He also scored 50 runs off 36 balls against New Zealand in the same stage and became the first Afghan player to score consecutive T20I fifties in a World Cup.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz has played 18 ODIs for Afghanistan till date, scoring 777 runs at an average of 43.16. His highest score is 127 against Ireland in January 2021.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz has played 26 T20Is for Afghanistan till date, scoring 704 runs at an average of 28.16. His highest score is 87 against Zimbabwe in September 2019.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz has not played any Test matches for Afghanistan till date.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz has not captained Afghanistan in any format of the game. He has, however, led Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan Samity in domestic cricket and Dhaka Platoon in the BPL.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was fined 15 percent of his match fee for showing dissent at an umpire's decision during an ODI against Ireland in January 2021. He was also reprimanded for using inappropriate language during a T20I against Zimbabwe in March 2021.