On This Day: Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan was born in 1998

On September 20, 1998, Afghanistan spinnerRashid Khan was born to Hamiz Reza Khan and Shakhri Begum in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. The leg-break spinner grew up playing cricket with his brothers and idolised Pakistani legend Shahid Afridi and South Africa great AB de Villiers. He made his international debut with his appearance against Zimbabwe in an ODI game played in 2015. After eight days of his maiden ODI game, he also broke into T20Is with his outing against Zimbabwe. His notable performance came against the West Indies in June 2017 in St Lucia, claiming 7/18 figures.

After two years of diligence in international cricket, he was picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in theIndian Premier League (IPL) 2017 auction. Playing his debut

season, he claimed 17 wickets in 14 matches at an economy of 6.62. The next IPL season, SRH concluded their campaign as runners-up under Kane Williamson’s captaincy and Rashid’s performance got better. The spinner racked up 21 wickets in 17 outings at a thrifty economy of 6.73. Serving SRH from 2017 to 2021, he picked up 93 wickets at a frugal economy of 6.33. Since 2022, he has been serving Gujarat Titans (GT). In 2023, he recorded his best season with Gujarat. With 27 wickets in 17 matches at an economy of 8.24, he ended up as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, alongside his teammate Mohit Sharma.

Rashid Khan’s notable performance in international cricket

In the World Cup 2023, Rashid Khan emerged as the best bowler for Afghanistan. He grabbed 11 wickets in nine matches, at an economy of 4.48. Rashid captained the Afghan side in the T20 World Cup 2024 and guided his team to the semi-finals. With the semi-final entry, Afghanistan succeeded in breaking into an ICC event’s knockout round.

Rashid led the team from the front and emerged as the fifth-leading wicket-taker in the tournament. He got 14 wickets in eight matches at an economy of 6.17. Afghanistan’s campaign ended in the sem-final with a nine-wicket defeat against South Africa but Rashid’s aggressive captaincy was hailed.