Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan, the veteran spinner born on 20th September 1998. He was also a former captain of the Afghanistan team. His right-arm leg-spin has troubled a lot of batsmen so far around the world. He was one of the eleven players to play for Afghanistan in their first-ever Test match, against India, in June 2018. In September 2019, he captained the team in the one-off Test against Bangladesh as well. Moreover, at the age of 20 years and 350 days, he became the youngest cricketer to lead a Test team as well.

However, Rashid Khan registered the best bowling figures in the ODI in June 2017. In February 2018, he became the youngest player to top the ICC Player Rankings among bowlers in ODIs as well. Even, in the same month, he also topped the ICC Player Rankings for bowlers in the shortest format as well. In September 2018, he became the number one player in the ICC's all-rounder rankings, after his stunning performance at the 2018 Asia Cup.

In March 2018, during the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, he led his side for the first time in an ODI match at the age of 19 years and 165 days. With this, he became the youngest player to lead an international team. In the final of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, against the West Indies team as well.

Even, Rashid Khan became the fastest and youngest bowler to take 100 wickets in ODIs whereas he took only 44 matches to reach the feat, breaking the earlier record of 52 matches by Australia pacer Mitchell Starc. In June 2018, he became the fastest bowler to take 50 wickets in the shortest format in terms of time as well. He reached the feat in two years and 220 days as well. However, this was not the end as in October 2021, he also became the fastest bowler to take 100 wickets in T20I cricket, taking only 53 games.

In April 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had named him as the team's new T20I captain. In June 2019, during the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he even played his 100th international cricket match for the Afghanistan team as well. After the World Cup, Rashid Khan was appointed as captain of the Afghanistan cricket team across all formats. However, in December 2019, the board has reappointed Asghar Afghan as the captain across all formats as well.

When did Rashid Khan Make his International Debut?

Rashid Khan made his ODI debut on 18th October 2015 against Zimbabwe. He made his Twenty20 International debut on 26th October against the same opponent. He made his Test debut on 14th June 2018 against India.

Rashid Khan in IPL and other t20 leagues

Rashid Khan is a familiar face in the Indian Premier League. In February 2017, Sunrisers Hyderabad bought him for ₹4 Crores. He was also amongst the two first-ever Afghanistan cricketers to be selected for the cash-rich league as well. On his IPL debut, he claimed two wickets, and the Sunrisers Hyderabad won the match by 35 runs. He finished the tournament as the sixth-highest wicket-taker with 17 scalps from 14 matches as well.

Caribbean Premier League

However, apart from IPL, he has taken part in T20 leagues all over the world - be it Caribbean Premier League, Big Bash League, Afghanistan Premier League, Pakistan Super League to name a few. Guyana Amazon Warriors bought him for $60,000 to play in the 2017 Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In September 2017, he picked up a hat-trick for Guyana Amazon Warriors. And, it was the first hat-trick in the history of the league as well.

In July 2020, he was bought by the Barbados Tridents squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League. On 20 August 2020, against the St Lucia Zouks, Rashid Khan picked up his 300th wicket in Twenty20 cricket. At the age of 21 years and 335 days, Khan became the youngest bowler to take 300 scalps in T20 cricket. Moreover, the spinner became the fastest to take 300 wickets in this format, taking only 213 matches.

Big Bash League

In September 2017, he was bought by Adelaide Strikers and on 8 January 2020, in a match against the Sydney Sixers, Rashid Khan took the fifth hat-trick in the history of the league. On 12th January 2022, Khan played in his 300th T20 match and in the game he took six wickets for 17 runs, which is also his career-best figures, and the third-best figures in the tournament as well.

Afghanistan Premier League

He has also played in the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League where he took part for Kabul Zwanan and was named as the player of the tournament.

Pakistan Super League

In November 2017, Quetta Gladiators picked him for the 2018 Pakistan Super League players draft. For the 2021 edition of the Pakistan Super League, he was named as the first Platinum Pick for the Lahore Qalandars and he has played his first game against Peshawar Zalmi.

Other tournaments

In October 2017, Sussex County Cricket Club signed him to play in the NatWest T20 Blast in England. During the first-ever player draft for The Hundred, he was the first pick for the Trent Rockets as well with the top price band (£125,000) as well. In October 2018, he was picked by Durban Heat to play in the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament. In July 2019, he was picked to play for the Rotterdam Rhinos in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament as well. However, the league was cancelled and in December 2021, Sussex signed Rashid Khan for the 2022 T20 Blast tournament in England as well.

Rashid Khan in International cricket

On 10 March 2017, Rashid Khan took his maiden T20I fifer at the second T20I against Ireland. His 5 for 3 is the best bowling performance by an Afghanistan cricketer in a T20I and the joint fourth-best figures in all T20Is as well. He also became the first cricketer to take a fifer in two overs in a T20I match.

Meanwhile, in the ODI series against Ireland, along with Paul Stirling, they became the first pair of bowlers from two different teams to have taken six wickets in the same match. On 9 June, he picked up his second ODI five-wicket haul, finishing with the brilliant figures of 7 wickets for 18 runs against the West Indies at Gros Islet. In February 2019, in the third T20I match against Ireland, he picked up a hat-trick and four wickets with four balls as well.

He made his Test debut against India, on 14 June 2018 where he gave away 154 runs in the first innings of the match and with this, he became the first bowler to give away more than 150 runs. Rashid's figures of 2 for 154 in the first innings was also the highest number of runs given away by a bowler in the country's first Test match, beating the earlier record by Amir Elahi, who gave away 134 runs during Pakistan's debut Test match against India in 1952 as well.

In February 2019, he took five wickets for 82 runs and became the first bowler from his side to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match as well. On 1 June 2019, Rashid Khan played his 100th international cricket match. On 18 June 2019, in the match against England, Rashid Khan bowled the most expensive spell in a Cricket World Cup match, giving away 110 runs from his nine overs as well.

In September 2019, Rashid Khan became the first bowler for Afghanistan to take a ten-wicket haul in Tests as well and was the first cricketer to hit a fifty and take a ten-wicket haul in his debut match as captain in a Test match as well.

Rashid Khan five wicket hauls