Rahmanullah Gurbaz — the keeper-captain leading Paktia

The captain who opens and keeps

Rahmanullah Gurbaz is Paktia’s captain, wicketkeeper and opening batter for APL 2026-27. Born in Khost on 28 November 2001, he bats right-handed, wears shirt number 21 for Afghanistan, and has been his country’s Test and ODI vice-captain since July 2026.

He did not start the season as Paktia’s captain. At the leaders’ draft on 25 October 2026 he was named captain of Nangarhar, with Rahmat Shah named to lead Paktia. On 3 November, just before the players’ draft, the two captains were swapped — Gurbaz to Paktia, Rahmat Shah to Nangarhar Cosmic — a decision the ACB described as one of its technical committee, reached by mutual agreement between the franchise owners and the captains.

Azhar Mahmood coaches the side, with Waqar Younis as mentor. Gurbaz leads a squad built around two wrist-spinners, Wanindu Hasaranga and Noor Ahmad, and a batting order that runs deep through Colin Munro, Hashmatullah Shahidi and David Wiese.

Nine ODI hundreds, and a World Cup to remember

Gurbaz made his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in September 2019, his ODI debut against Ireland in January 2021, and his Test debut against Ireland in February 2024. The ODI debut is the one people still talk about: 127 at Abu Dhabi, the first century on ODI debut by an Afghan, and only the sixteenth batter in history to do it.

His highest ODI score is 151 against Pakistan in 2023, and his nine ODI centuries are the most by any Afghan batter. At the 2024 T20 World Cup he finished as Afghanistan’s leading scorer with 281 runs, including 76 off 45 against Uganda and 80 off 45 against New Zealand — both Player of the Match performances in a campaign that ended in Afghanistan’s first World Cup semi-final.

He was sixteen when he was named in the Paktia Panthers squad for the first APL in 2018, and he played five matches as a specialist batter because Mohammad Shahzad kept wicket. His best innings that season was 33 against Balkh Legends, with four sixes in 22 balls, and he took two catches in the outfield — Chris Gayle and Brendon McCullum. In the semi-final against Kabul Zwanan he made 7 as Paktia were bowled out for 102 and lost by 90 runs.

APL 2018, and a blank page for 2026-27

Gurbaz has no APL 2026-27 numbers yet, because the season has not started. His 2018 figures come from the verified scorecards of the five matches he played.

2018: 65 runs at 16.25, highest 33, strike rate 141.30. He did not bowl in the APL. 2026-27 figures will be added here once the matches are played.

Power at the top, and a captain who has done it

Paktia’s plan starts with Gurbaz’s batting. He attacks the new ball, scores quickly in the powerplay, and his keeping gives the side a second skill in the same player — the kind of two-in-one pick that lets a franchise spend its overseas slots elsewhere.

The captaincy is the other half of the job. Gurbaz has led Afghanistan’s dressing room as vice-captain, and he takes over a brand-new squad of nineteen players who have never played together. Eight league matches is not long to become a team, and the captain who sets the tempo with the bat usually sets it everywhere else too.

A new club, a blank record

Five teams chase four playoff places in APL 2026-27, so one side goes home after the league stage. Each team plays eight league matches — each opponent twice — and a win is worth two points. The table is empty because the season has not started: every team begins on zero points, and the first update comes after Match 1 on 27 December 2026, when the first ball is bowled at 5:30 PM Afghanistan time (5:00 PM Dubai time) in the UAE. The final is on Wednesday 20 January 2027.

Paktia are a new club for 2026-27, not a continuation of the 2018 Paktia Panthers, so Gurbaz’s 2018 record stays with that old side. The 2018 top scorer of the whole tournament was Mohammad Shahzad, with 344 runs — a record that belongs to the old season, not to this squad. As the Afghanistan Premier League returns, Paktia start on zero, like everyone else.