Kolkata Knight Riders Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz revealed his mother's special message which spurred him in the IPL 2024 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday, May 26, 2024.
Gurbaz made the difficult choice of leaving his ailing mother in hospital when his IPL franchise KKR sought his services for the play-offs stage following the departure of England opener Phil Salt.
He stroked 39 from 32 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes, to add 91 runs from 45 balls for the second wicket with Venkatesh Iyer, while also taking three catches with the gloves.
After winning the IPL title, Gurbaz said he had spoken to his mother ahead of the title clash.
"I think she will be watching, she is ok now. Before the match, I spoke to my mom. I asked what do you want, and she said, nothing just win," Gurbaz told Star Sports.
He won his second IPL title, having earlier triumphed with the Gujarat Titans two years ago.
"Twice I'm champion of IPL, I'm lucky. When you work hard for two months and the result when it comes like this is special," he said.
Gurbaz had rushed back to India to join KKR for the play-offs.
"My mom is still sick. I went (back) there and the call from here was (that) Phil Salt was leaving. They called and they messaged me that 'Gurbaz, we need you, and what is your feedback for us?'," he had said.
"I said, 'Yes, I will come'. My mom is still in hospital, and I'm always talking to her, but this is also my family. I should manage both of that, my mom and my KKR family. It's hard, it's tough, but still, I need to manage it."
