Gulbadin Naib joins Balkh Zwanan as a Gold pick of the 2026 draft, signed at
the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026 for a reported US$40,000. He is
a 35-year-old all-rounder with 89 ODIs and 87 T20Is behind him, a former
Afghanistan captain at a World Cup, and one of the few players in the 2026
draft who has already won this league. Balkh are captained by Ibrahim
Zadran and coached by Mickey Arthur, with Tillakaratne Dilshan as mentor,
and Naib gives them something a new squad needs most — a senior head who
has been through a World Cup campaign, an Asian Games final and a title
run in this very competition.
He is one of the few 2026 players with an APL past. In the inaugural
season in 2018 he played all nine matches for Balkh Legends, scoring 48
runs and taking 12 wickets, and finished the tournament a champion —
Balkh beat Kabul Zwanan by four wickets in the final at Sharjah on
21 October 2018, with Naib unbeaten on 7 off 3 balls. His best day of
that campaign came in the group stage, when his 4 for 12 against
Kandahar Knights earned him the Player of the Match award. The 2026
clubs are new sides and inherit nothing from the 2018 clubs, so the
title stays with the Legends; Naib's 2026 side starts from scratch.
The 2026 season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE, with the
fixture list still to be published.
What Balkh are buying is big-match temperament as much as skill. Naib's
best innings come when the rate is climbing and the game is slipping
away — 74 not out from 54 for 5 to save a World Cup qualifier in 2018,
63 off 35 in a World Cup opener at 35 — and his best bowling has come
against the best opposition, 4 for 20 against Australia at the 2024
T20 World Cup. He has played franchise cricket on four continents and
captained his country at a World Cup and an Asian Games, and at 35 he
is still scoring fifties at World Cups.
APL career stats
Gulbadin is one of the few 2026 players with an APL past: he played the
inaugural season in 2018 for Balkh Legends, winning the title. Every figure
in his 2018 rows below was recomputed from the nine match scorecards —
48 runs in seven innings, 12 wickets in 26.3 overs. Season boundary totals
are not in the verified source set, so the batting table shows a dash for
fours and sixes. The 2026 season has not started, so those rows will fill
in once the first ball is bowled on 27 December 2026.
World Cup Qualifier · 20 March 2018 · Old Hararians, Harare
Afghanistan were 54 for 5 chasing 178 against the UAE, and their World
Cup dream was slipping away, when Gulbadin Naib walked in. He batted
through the rest of the chase — 74 not out off 97 balls — in an unbroken
124-run stand with Najibullah Zadran (63 not out off 64), and Afghanistan
won by five wickets with five balls to spare. He was named Player of the
Match, and three days later Afghanistan beat Ireland to qualify for the
2019 World Cup.
Why it mattered: the innings that kept Afghanistan's
World Cup dream alive — a rescue from 54 for 5, in a match they had to win.
4 for 12 vs Kandahar Knights
Afghanistan Premier League · 7 October 2018 · Sharjah
In only the second match of the inaugural APL season, Naib produced the
best T20 bowling of his career to that point: 4 for 12 in four overs
against Kandahar Knights, removing Paul Stirling, Brendon McCullum, Kevin
O'Brien and Mohammad Sadiq as Balkh Legends defended 160 to win by 13
runs. He had earlier made 14 not out off 14 balls with the bat, and he
was named Player of the Match. Balkh went on to win the title two weeks later.
Why it mattered: the performance that set the champions'
campaign rolling — four wickets, all of them proper batters, in a
low-scoring defence.
6 for 43 vs Ireland
One Day International · 21 May 2019 · Stormont, Belfast
Two weeks before he captained Afghanistan at the World Cup, Naib produced
the best bowling figures of his ODI career: 6 for 43 against Ireland at
Belfast, his first five-wicket haul in the format. At the time they were
the third-best ODI figures by an Afghan bowler. Ireland still won the
match — Naib's figures came in a losing cause — but the spell showed
what he could do with the new ball when it swung.
Why it mattered: the bowling performance of his career,
and the perfect audition for the World Cup captaincy that followed.
4 for 20 vs Australia
T20 World Cup · 22 June 2024 · Arnos Vale, Kingstown, St Vincent
Afghanistan had made 148 for 6 against Australia in the Super 8s, and
needed something special with the ball. Naib delivered it: 4 for 20,
removing Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Glenn Maxwell for 59 and Pat Cummins
as Australia were bowled out for 127. He was named Player of the Match
in a 21-run win — Afghanistan's first-ever senior international victory
over Australia, in any format.
Why it mattered: the spell that beat Australia for the
first time — four wickets, including Maxwell, in a World Cup knockout race.
63 vs New Zealand
T20 World Cup · 8 February 2026 · MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
At 35, in the opening match of the 2026 T20 World Cup, Naib played the
best T20I innings of his life: 63 off 35 balls against New Zealand, with
three fours and four sixes, reaching his fifty off 29 balls. He added 79
for the third wicket with Sediqullah Atal and passed 1,000 T20I runs
during the innings. Afghanistan made 182 for 6 but lost by five wickets
— New Zealand chased it down with 13 balls to spare.
Why it mattered: a career-best T20I score at 35, in a
World Cup opener — proof the old warhorse still had a new gear.
Playing style and strengths
Naib is a genuine all-rounder in the old sense — a middle-order batter who
hits cleanly and a fast-medium bowler who moves the ball and bowls a heavy
length. With the bat he is strong through the leg side, with a pull and a
straight hit he trusts under pressure, and he is an accelerator rather than
a builder: his best innings come when the asking rate is climbing. The 74
not out from 54 for 5 in Harare, the 63 off 35 in Chennai, the unbeaten 78
off 51 for Dubai Capitals against Desert Vipers — all of them were chases
or rescues, not accumulations. He does not waste balls getting in; he
backs his eye and his power, and he is at his best when the game is
slipping away.
With the ball he is right-arm fast-medium, hitting the deck hard, swinging
the new ball a little and bowling a skiddy bouncer that hurries batters. He
has a knack for the big wicket — Glenn Maxwell for 59 at Kingstown, four of
Kandahar's best in Sharjah, six of Ireland's in Belfast — and captains
trust him in the overs that decide games: he bowled the 46th over against
Pakistan at Headingley in 2019 with the match in the balance, and the
death overs in Afghanistan's win over Australia in 2024. What sets him
apart is range and temperament. He has opened the batting in a World Cup
qualifier rescue, captained his country at a World Cup at 28 and to an
Asian Games silver at 32, and played franchise cricket in the IPL, ILT20,
LPL, BPL and NPL. For Balkh, the package is a senior all-rounder who can
bat anywhere from three to seven, bowl in the powerplay or at the death,
and steady a young dressing room. The one thing he has never done is play
Test cricket — his whole career has been white-ball, and that is where
his value lies.
Records and milestones
ODI debut (cap 24) on 9 August 2011 vs Canada; T20I debut (cap 15) on 14 March 2012 vs Netherlands in Dubai. Never played Test cricket.
74 not out off 97 vs UAE, 20 March 2018 — rescued Afghanistan from 54 for 5 in the World Cup Qualifier; Afghanistan qualified three days later and won the tournament.
APL 2018 champion with Balkh Legends — 9 matches, 48 runs, 12 wickets, best 4 for 12; final vs Kabul Zwanan, Sharjah, 21 October 2018.
Named Afghanistan ODI captain in April 2019, replacing Asghar Afghan — captained all nine matches at the 2019 World Cup in England.
6 for 43 vs Ireland, 21 May 2019 — first ODI five-wicket haul; third-best ODI figures by an Afghan bowler at that time.
100th international match and 1,000th ODI run in the same game — vs Bangladesh, Southampton, 24 June 2019 (World Cup).
Captained Afghanistan to the Asian Games silver medal, Hangzhou 2023 — 26 not out off 19 in the semi-final win over Pakistan Shaheens; final vs India rained off, India gold on ranking.
4 for 20 vs Australia, 22 June 2024 — Player of the Match in Afghanistan's first-ever senior international win over Australia (T20 World Cup).
78 not out off 51 vs Desert Vipers, 20 January 2025 — ILT20 Season 3, Player of the Match, ended the Vipers' unbeaten streak (Dubai Capitals).
63 off 35 vs New Zealand, 8 February 2026 — career-best T20I score and 1,000th T20I run, in the opening match of the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Career totals as of 6 November 2026: ODI 89 matches, 1,332 runs, 74 wickets; T20I 87 matches, 1,082 runs, 35 wickets; T20 overall 181 matches, 2,639 runs, 102 wickets.
Career outside APL
Gulbadin Naib was born in Puli Alam, in Logar province, on 4 June 1991,
and came through as Afghanistan climbed from World Cricket League
Division Five to Full Member status. He made his ODI debut against
Canada on 9 August 2011, at 20, and his T20I debut against the
Netherlands in Dubai on 14 March 2012. In those early years he was a
bit-part all-rounder, learning his trade while Afghanistan learned
theirs — a bowler who could bat a bit, in a side that was still finding
out how far it could go.
The 2018 World Cup Qualifier changed that. His unbeaten 74 against the
UAE, rescuing Afghanistan from 54 for 5, was the innings that kept
their World Cup dream alive, and a month later the Afghanistan Cricket
Board named him ODI captain — replacing Asghar Afghan two months
before the 2019 World Cup. The tournament itself was brutal: nine
matches, nine defeats, and a storm around the game against Pakistan at
Headingley on 29 June 2019, when Naib opened the batting, made 15 off
12, and then bowled himself in the 46th over, which went for 18 as
Pakistan won with two balls to spare. He defended the decision
afterwards, pointing to Hamid Hassan's hamstring injury after two overs,
and Rashid Khan took over the captaincy across all formats once the
tournament ended. His best ODI bowling — 6 for 43 against Ireland at
Belfast, three weeks before the World Cup — remains the high-water mark
of his bowling career.
The second act of his career has been the better one. He captained
Afghanistan to the silver medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in
October 2023, then played a central role in the 2024 T20 World Cup run:
4 for 20 against Australia at Kingstown, in Afghanistan's first-ever
win over them, followed by the cramp incident against Bangladesh in
the Super 8s — he went down at slip as rain approached, a moment widely
seen as time-wasting that drew comment around the world — and a
semi-final place. He played the Champions Trophy in 2025, the Asia Cup
in 2026, and opened the 2026 T20 World Cup with a career-best 63
against New Zealand in Chennai, passing 1,000 T20I runs in the same
innings. As of November 2026 his international totals stand at 89 ODIs
(1,332 runs, 74 wickets) and 87 T20Is (1,082 runs, 35 wickets). He has
never played Test cricket.
Franchise cricket has taken him almost everywhere the T20 game is
played. In the IPL he joined Delhi Capitals in 2024 as a mid-season
replacement for the injured Mitchell Marsh, at a base price of INR 50
lakh, debuting against Rajasthan Royals at Delhi on 7 May 2024 and
playing two matches for 19 runs; he went unsold at the 2025 mega
auction and again at the 2026 auction. For Dubai Capitals in the ILT20
he made an unbeaten 78 off 51 balls against Desert Vipers in January
2025, ending their unbeaten streak and winning Player of the Match.
He played for Dambulla Sixers in the Lanka Premier League in 2024 and
returned to the side in 2026, for Sylhet Sixers in the Bangladesh
Premier League in 2019, and was named in Quetta Gladiators' squad for
the 2025 Pakistan Super League. In the Nepal Premier League he signed
for Lumbini Lions in November 2025 and marked his debut with 44 not
out off 24 balls and 2 for 33 against Chitwan Rhinos, in a six-wicket
win; he played five matches and scored 90 runs in the season. At home
he has turned out for Boost Region, Mis Ainak Region, Amo Sharks,
Band-e-Amir Dragons and Bost Defenders in the Shpageeza Cricket League
and Afghanistan's domestic competitions.
Fifteen years an international, a World Cup captain, an Asian Games
silver-medal captain, an APL champion — and still scoring fifties at
World Cups at 35. The APL return brings him back to the league where
he won his first franchise title, this time with a new club, a new
captain in Ibrahim Zadran, and a Gold pick's expectations on his
shoulders.
Which team does Gulbadin Naib play for in APL 2026?
Gulbadin Naib plays for Balkh Zwanan in APL T20 2026. He was picked in the Gold category at the player draft in Dubai on 3 November 2026, for a reported US$40,000. Balkh are captained by Ibrahim Zadran, coached by Mickey Arthur and mentored by Tillakaratne Dilshan, and the season starts on 27 December 2026 in the UAE.
Did Gulbadin Naib play in the first APL season in 2018?
Yes. Gulbadin Naib played the inaugural season in 2018 for Balkh Legends and won the title. He played all nine matches, scoring 48 runs and taking 12 wickets, with a best of 4 for 12 against Kandahar Knights in the group stage, when he was named Player of the Match. Balkh Zwanan, his 2026 side, are a new club and do not inherit the Legends' title.
Was Gulbadin Naib Afghanistan's captain at a World Cup?
Yes. The Afghanistan Cricket Board named him ODI captain in April 2019, replacing Asghar Afghan, and he captained all nine matches at the 2019 World Cup in England, where Afghanistan lost every game. He also captained Afghanistan to the silver medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou in 2023, losing the rain-affected final to India on ranking.
What is Gulbadin Naib's best bowling in international cricket?
His best ODI bowling is 6 for 43 against Ireland at Belfast on 21 May 2019, his first five-wicket haul in the format and the third-best ODI figures by an Afghan bowler at that time. In T20I cricket his best is 4 for 20 against Australia at the 2024 T20 World Cup in Kingstown, when he was named Player of the Match in Afghanistan's first-ever win over Australia.
What is Gulbadin Naib's highest score in T20I cricket?
63 off 35 balls against New Zealand at Chennai on 8 February 2026, in the opening match of the 2026 T20 World Cup. He reached his fifty off 29 balls and passed 1,000 T20I runs during the innings, but Afghanistan lost by five wickets. His previous best was 57, and it was his fourth T20I half-century.
