8 Interesting facts about Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan has been around long enough for a cricket fan to recognize him. The tiny figure of the 18-year-old sometimes is misjudged by the opposition. He sometimes takes advantage of being underestimated by the batsmen. The Afghanistan bowler has been a mainstay for the national team. He played a pivotal role in his team’s triumph in the Desert T20 league.

He loves Shahid Afridi for his bowling and has a special interest in Virat Kohli when it comes to batting. The Afghan also outperformed every other bowler of his country in the Asia Cup T20 where they had to face the giants like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Rashid has something about him that helps him being remembered. He recently made history by becoming only the second player from Afghanistan to bag a contract in the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Here are 10 interesting facts about Rashid Khan Arman.

1. An Afghan through and through:

Rashid Khan is a pure Afghan. Born and brought up in Nangarhar, one of the smallest provinces in Afghanistan, he has managed to make it big in the world of cricket. He has a big family with five elder brothers. Everything came very quickly to the youngster. Picked up by the national team at the age of 17 and he did not have to wait too long for his chance as well.

2. Youngest cricketer to represent Afghanistan in T20 internationals:

At the age of just 17 years and 36 days, Rashid Khan made history. He was the youngest cricketer ever to play for Afghanistan in T20 cricket. He later went on to make his One Day International debut as well.

3. Highest wicket-taker for his country in the ICC U19 World Cup:

He was the joint highest wicket-taker for the U19 side at the 50 over World Cup in 2016. The 18-year-old was joint highest with Navin-ul-Haq and Karim Janat. He had picked 10 wickets in 6 matches.

4. Big game player:

Rashid has always loved big games. He has craved for pressure situations and dwells on them. Rashid recently helped them to a fantastic Desert T20 league win with 9 wickets in 5 matches. He also outperformed himself in 2016 World T20. His performance of 3/11 against Zimbabwe earned his team a win in a World T20 game over the Zimbabwean team that is among the Test playing nations.

5. Played for U19 as well as the senior side in 2016 World Cup:

Now, this has to be a fantastic feat to achieve. Rashid featured for the Afghanistan team in the U19 World Cup held in Bangladesh and also played for the senior side in the ICC T20 World Cup event held in India. There are only a few players who have achieved this and Rashid Khan is one of them.

6. Tough upbringing

Rashid grew up wth five of his elder brothers. They all played cricket and he was always under pressure as everyone was elder to him. It is from there that he learned to handle the pressure. He himself admitted it.

7. ODI debut at the age of 17:

He made his ODI debut at the age of 17 becoming one of the youngest players to do so. It was only 7 days prior to this ODI that he had made his T20 international debut. He took one wicket as the match yielded a win for Afghanistan against Zimbabwe.

8. One of the two Afghans to grab an IPL contract:

Rashid Khan made history when he grabbed that contract worth INR 4 crore. He was picked by the Sunrisers Hyderabad and will play alongside the likes of Yuvraj Singh and David Warner. In the IPL he will get an opportunity to bowl at his favourite batsman Virat Kohli as well.