Rashid Khan has been one of the greatest success stories in cricket and he highlights the growth of a cricketer from a nation that has been destructed by war. The promising Afghanistan cricketer has been a packaged talent and has gone on to become one of the leading spinners in the game.
Be it international cricket for the Afghans, or a series of freelance outings for franchises across the global T20 leagues, Rashid Khan is a household name. He is strong mentally and doesn’t shy away from responsibilities. A gritty cricketer, Rashid always knows how to stay in sync with the demands of modern-day cricket.
Rashid Khan is highly fit, enormously a cricketing brain and Afghanistan’s cricket team skipper. On September 20, the versatile cricketer turned 21 years of age. At such a tender age, he has already scaled great heights and continues to grow as a cricketer. This is what makes him a serious sportsperson on offer.
Rashid Khan was born on this day in 1998. The leg-spinner, widely considered one of the best in the world, has gone on to create a space for himself. Rashid Khan Career made his T20 and ODI debut in October 2015 against Bangladesh and has since gone on to play more than a hundred matches across both formats for Afghanistan.
He has been one of the pioneers of Afghan cricket and has helped them grow rapidly in the sport. Rashid Khan also played a huge role in helping his side win Test series against Ireland and Bangladesh in recent times. Always coming forward to lead the team from the front, Rashid Khan Career needs to be cherished for his services.
Here we list out his achievements, growth and the promise he shares to make Afghanistan a solid side.
230 international wickets at a combined bowling average of 15.70 👏 👏
Top of the @MRFWorldwide T20I Bowling Rankings 🔝
The youngest Test skipper of all time 👍He really is phenomenal.
Happy birthday, @rashidkhan_19! pic.twitter.com/rwrwPzfgTR
— ICC (@ICC) September 20, 2019
Rashid Khan fed off the challenges early on to make it large
The promising cricketer was a refugee for a few years in Pakistan and then returned to Afghanistan to continue schooling. He was born in 1998 in Nangarhar in eastern Afghanistan. He was a slum-boy of Nangarhar and battled several hardships in life since he was a kid.
His family had to flee a war-torn Afghanistan and take refuge in Pakistan for a few years. Since their return, Rashid Khan continued to grow and had a special liking for cricket as he idolized Shahid Afridi of Pakistan.
Rashid Khan Career rose through the ranks and showed his skills to gain respect. His knowledge and aggressive bowling helped him make debut for Afghanistan in October 2015 in an ODI against Zimbabwe. His T20I debut came against Zimbabwe as well eight days later.
Rashid Khan Career has grown like a phoenix in the last four years
Rashid Khan Career showed that he can bowl anywhere in the world and that helped everybody take notice. His leg-breaks, googly and the ability to outwit batsmen with a range of ammunition helped him gain solidity with the ball. His impact in the game at such a short span of time made him a household name everywhere.
As he kept growing, Afghan cricket also grew alongside the talented cricketer. At just 19 years and 165 days, he captained Afghanistan in the 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. It was Rashid’s heroics in the tourney that helped his side win the tournament and qualify for the 2019 World Cup.
Rashid Khan Career became the fastest to 100 career ODI wickets last year and also the youngest to do so. He achieved the mark in 44 matches. Earlier in 2017, the spinner became the highest ever bid for an Associate player in the IPL Auction. He was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 4 crore.
He has continuously been a huge presence for Afghanistan and that has helped them make a name for themselves among the elite. He is someone who bowls tight to batsmen and maintaining the stump-to-stump line. His biggest weapon is the googly.
He has a huge presence across T20 leagues and represents the Guyana Amazon Warriors – with whom he claimed the CPL’s first-ever hat-trick in 2017 – and Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League.
Rashid scripted a host of records in Test cricket
Recently, the spinner became the youngest captain to lead a side in Test cricket, he scripted another record in a span of five days, as he also became the youngest captain to record a Test win. During the win, Rashid was aged 20 years, 354 days. The leg-spinner registered a unique record as he became the first skipper to score a half-century and claim 10-plus wickets in a Test match.
Rashid scored 51 in the opening innings of the one-off Test, he finished the match with figures of 11/104. Also, he is the third captain overall to do so, after Imran Khan (vs India, 1983) and Allan Border (vs West Indies, 1989).
His debut as a Test captain continued to reach new heights as he also joined a list of the elite by becoming the fourth player to score a half-century and claim a five-for in an innings. Rashid claimed 5/55 in the first innings.
He joined the likes of Stanley Jackson, Imran and Shakib Al Hasan. Not just that, he also became the second leg-spinner in Test history to claim six LBWs in a match. He now shares the record with Pakistan’s Abdul Qadir, who did the same against England, in 1987.
What does the future hold for Rashid?
He has already taken 131 ODI scalps and 79 T20I scalps for the Afghans. At just 21, he has a long route to travel. One can expect the cricketer to smash many world records and continue to shine on the biggest level. He has been handed the captaincy role across formats. With this added responsibility, Rashid will only keep growing.
He is a true champion of the game and will be expected to rally his troops and work together. Also, with Afghanistan getting the support of BCCI and India being their home, expect their cricket to gain more solidity. For now, his main focus will be to do well in the ICC World T20 in 2020. Since then, it is crucial to take things slowly.