Who is Karim Janat? GT debutant who replaced Sherfane Rutherford

Gujarat Titans (GT) have handed the debut cap to Afghanistan cricketer Karim Janat for the IPL 2025 game against Rajasthan Royals (RR). The 26-year-old comes in place of Sherfane Rutherford in what was a very surprising move by the Titans side. RR skipper Riyan Parag won the toss and chose to bowl first in what is a key game for the home team. 

Karim Janat was given his debut cap by his Afghan teammate Rashid Khan on Monday evening. The 26-year-old is a right-medium bowler and a handy lower order batter. Janat is the brother of former Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan and is considered a very bankable player with the bat and ball. 

As far as his international experience goes, Karim Janat has played two Test matches, three ODI games and 67 T20I matches. In those 67 T20I games, Karim has scored 691 runs with four half-centuries and has a strike rate of 115. With the ball, Karim has picked 42 wickets with one fifer and has an economy rate of 8.19 runs per over. 

As far as his overall T20 experience is concerned, Karim Janat has played a total of 161 games and picked 118 wickets. With the bat the 26-year-old has scored 2494 runs with two centuries and nine fifties. The move to give debut to the young Afghan cricketer is a curious one but many GT fans will be backing the latest IPL debutant. 

Chance to GT to go top of the points table

Gujarat Titans has played eight games so far this campaign and have 12 points a with a very healthy run-rate. If the Titans win on Monday, they will go top of the table while Royal Challengers Bengaluru will slide to the second spot in the table. In the last meeting between these two sides in Ahmedabad it was the Titans who came out on top. 

Speaking at the toss, Riyan Parag revealed that RR have made two changes to their side. Yudhvir Singh Charak comes in for Tushar Deshpande while Maheesh Theekshana replaces Fazalhaq Farooqi. Royals are currently in the ninth spot and a loss on Monday will more or less confirm their elimination from the tournament.