Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar is optimistic about Afghanistan star Rahmanullah Gurbaz's potential to be a game-changer for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the upcoming IPL 2024.

The legendary batter said that the Afghanistan wicketkeeper-batter reminds him of the great MS Dhoni, and it increases his excitement about Gurbaz's abilities.

Gavaskar also wants to see Gurbaz in the KKR playing XI as one of the foreign players due to his aggressive batting style, which he believes could significantly benefit the team in the IPL 2024.

Sunil Gavaskar said on a Star Sports show: “I have liked Rahmanullah Gurbaz's batting a lot based on whatever I have seen. He is extremely aggressive, and his batting is like a slight copy of MS Dhoni. That is why I probably like it.”

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Gavaskar was particularly impressed by Gurbaz's humble and grounded nature, which was evident in a touching gesture he made off the field during last year's ODI World Cup 2023 in India.

He signed off by saying, “When the World Cup ended, after that, the job he did, he gave money to the people sleeping on the footpath. For doing that, he has to definitely be in the team for me.”

Notably, Mitchell Starc, IPL's highest-paid player, along with Andre Russell and Sunil Narine, are almost guaranteed to be among the three overseas players consistently in the KKR’s playing XI for the upcoming entire season.

However, for the fourth spot, there will be a close contest between Gurbaz and Jason Roy.

(With Star Sports/PTI Inputs)