Gulbadin Naib Biography – A Body-Builder turns into a Cricketer!
In this post, we’ll know about the Biography of Gulbadin Naib, his inspirational journey from a body-builder to the captain of the Afghanistan Cricket Team, Cricket stats & more interesting facts about him.
Family Background Gulbadin Naib:
Gulbadin Naib was born on March 16, 1991, in Pol-e Alam, Afghanistan. The names of his father and mother aren’t known.
He is the eldest among his siblings, and also his father was unemployed. So, it became his duty to feed his family properly.
To earn the Bread & Butter for his family, he used to do bodybuilding in a local gym and wanted to pursue it as his career. Meanwhile, he got introduced to cricket somehow and then started playing cricket regularly.
Initial Cricket Days of Gulbadin:
In 2008, in ICC’s Divison V tournament, held in Jersey, he made his debut for Afghanistan against Japan. He was the youngest among the players on the team at that moment. And the most interesting fact is, it was also the debut match of Afghanistan cricket.
In the same tournament in a do-or-die match against Nepal, he was the “ball” winner. Later, Afghanistan won the Division V Cup by defeating Jersey in the final of the tournament.
Gulbadin Naib Biography:
| Gulbadin’s Profile | |
|---|---|
| Personal Life | |
| Full Name | Gulbadin Naib |
| Nickname | Not Known |
| Date of Birth | March 16, 1991 |
| Age | 33 years 9 months (in December, 2024) |
| Nationality | Afghan |
| Religion | Not Known |
| Zodiac/Sun Sign | Pisces |
| Birth Place | Pol-e Alam, Afghanistan |
| School | Not Known |
| College | Not Known |
| Physical Stats | |
| Height | 5’ 6” (170 cm) |
| Weight | 72 kg (158.73 lbs) |
| Hair Color | Black |
| Family & Relationships | |
| Father | Not Known |
| Mother | Not Known |
| Siblings | Not Kown |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife | Not Known |
| Career | |
| Profession | Cricketer |
| Coach/ Mentor | Taj Malik |
| Playing Role | All-rounder |
| Batting Style | Right-hand bat |
| Bowling Style | Right-arm medium-fast |
| Major Teams | Afghanistan, Boost Region, Sylhet Sixers, Bangla Tigers |
| ODI Debut | Canada vs Afghanistan at Toronto (August, 2011) |
| T20I Debut | Afghanistan vs Netherlands at Dubai (Mar 14, 2012) |
| First-Class Debut | Afghanistan vs Ireland, Dublin, (July, 2012) |
| List-A Debut | Afghanistan vs Afghanistan A, Islamabad (May, 2011) |
| T-20 Debut | Afghanistan v Trinidad & Tobago at King City (August, 2011) |
UPs and DOWNs in Naib’s Cricket Career:
After winning the Divison V tournament, Afghanistan cricket took some severe actions to boost the country’s level of cricket. The coaches got changed, players in the team got replaced, and in all that chaos, Naib also got replaced.
After performing so well in his last tournament, he didn’t get selected for the next tournament. However, he made his international debut in the Inter-Continental cup in the year 2011. But, again dropped from the team because of his inconsistent performances.
Then, in 2012, he was selected in the Afghanistan squad for the 2012 Twenty 20 World Cup, held in Srilanka.
Then again, he was dropped, but in 2014 made his comeback again against Zimbabwe in the Zimbabwe tour of Afghanistan. And like always, he was dropped from the 2015 World Cup squad later.
Captain of Afghanistan Team:
After dropping too many times from the team, he decided to do something different. He started playing as a middle-order batsman and performed brilliantly in that order which leads him to make his comeback in the team in 2016.
Later, he made more changes to his batting style and started playing as an opening batsman in the team. And, with lots of batting and bowling skills, Gulbadin has become an all-rounder for the Afghanistan cricket team.
In April 2019, Gulbadin Naib became the new captain of the Afghanistan Cricket team in the World Cup 2019. He was also the squad member of the 2021 T20I World Cup.
He also represented Afghanistan in the 2022 Asian Games. Afghanistan won silver in that tournament. Later, in 2023, Gulbadin scored two back to back fifties against India in a T20I series and made his powerful comeback in the team again.
Club Cricket:
In the 2018 Afghanistan Premier League, he played for Balkh Legends. Later, he played for Sylhet Sixers in the 2018-19 Bangladesh Premier League.
Facts about Gulbadin Naib:
- Naib is also a bodybuilder and was inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Before becoming a cricketer, he was the sole earner in his family.
- He was part of the Silver-winning Afghanistan cricket team that played cricket in the 2010 Asian Games.
- Gulbadin had appeared in the British Documentary film Out of the Ashes, which shows the story of the rise of Afghanistan cricket.
Frequently asked questions on Google:
Q1: What is the age of Gulbadin Naib?
Ans: 33 years 9 months (in December, 2024)
Q2: What is the height of Gulbadin Naib?
Ans: 5ft 6” (1.7m or 170 cm)
Q3: What is the name of Gulbadin’s son?
Ans: Abobakar Naib
Social Media Accounts:
- Lutho Sipamla
- Kane Williamson
- Tom Curran
- Josh Philippe
- Shreyas Iyer
- Alex Carey
- JJ Smuts
- Chris Green
- Apurvi Chandela
- Ravi Bishnoi
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