3 teams where Gulbadin Naib would have been a good fit in IPL 2025 ft. Gujarat Titans

Afghanistan all-rounder Gulbadin Naib has been in solid form in the ongoing ILT20 2024-25 tournament. Playing for the Dubai Capitals, Gulbadin has scored 376 runs from 11 games at an average of 47.00 and strike rate of 158.64 with four half-centuries. He also picked up 11 wickets with the ball at an average of 17.54 and best figures of 3/13.

Naib put up a sensational all-rounder performance in the first qualifier to help the Dubai Capitals reach the final as well.

He slammed a quickfire 39-ball 62 and returned with figures of 2/25 with the ball, winning the 'Player of the Match' award. Given his exceptional form in the shortest format at the moment, let us take a look at three Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 teams where he would have fit in well with the season soon approaching.

Notably, the Afghanistan all-rounder was a part of the IPL 2025 auctions at a base price of ₹1 crore. However, he failed to attract the attention of any franchise and went unsold.

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3 teams where Gulbadin Naib would have been a good fit in IPL 2025

#3 Delhi Capitals

Gulbadin Naib played two matches in the IPL 2024 season for the Delhi Capitals. While he could not create much impact, he would have been a good fit in their squad this time around.

Looking at their squad for this season, the Capitals do not have an overseas all-rounder. Moreover, they have only a few Indian all-rounders such as Axar Patel and Sameer Rizvi. The Capitals appear to be missing a fourth seamer in their best playing XI, which is where Gulbadin would have fit in well with his experience.

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#2 Lucknow Super Giants

Another side that would have benefited from the presence of Gulbadin Naib is the Lucknow Super Giants. Mitchell Marsh is the only fast-bowling all-rounder in their squad. However, the Australian all-rounder has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to injury.

Marsh is also doubtful to play in the IPL 2025 season if he does not recover and regain his fitness in time. In such a scenario, Gulbadin would have proved to have been a solid replacement as a pace-bowling all-rounder.

Most of their overseas signings such as David Miller, Aiden Markram, and Nicholas Pooran are batters and an experienced overseas all-rounder is an aspect where they appear to be lacking should Marsh miss out.

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#1 Gujarat Titans

Gujarat Titans is another side that appears to lack an experienced pace-bowling all-rounder. While they do have a solid pace attack with the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Gerald Coetzee in their ranks, they might fall short when it comes to a pace bowling all-rounder with Karim Janat as their only notable option for the position.

Moreover, with the presence of Afghanistan players such as Karim Janat and Rashid Khan, the inclusion of Gulbadin Naib would have formed a solid Afghanistan quotient in the squad. Given his abilities with the bat, Gulbadin could have added more value as an all-rounder as compared to Karim Janat.