Afghanistan sensation Rashid Khan wants to win the World Cup for his country

The leg-spinner from Afghanistan Rashid Khan has expressed his desire to win the Cricket World Cup for his country. The youngster has grown in stature at the international level and is in demand in the T20 leagues all over the world. He was the first player in his country to be picked in the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL). He will also play Big Bash League (BBL) in Australia later this year for Adelaide Strikers who signed him last month.

Such is Rashid Khan’s popularity that even a suicide blast at Kabul’s main cricket stadium couldn’t keep his fans away — and the teenager is now eyeing the sport’s big prizes as his international profile grows. The 19-year-old leg spinner started playing with a tennis ball in the remote and poor province of Nangarhar but is now the heartthrob of the nation. He also led his team Band-e-Amir Dragons to the trophy at Shpageeza Cricket League, the domestic T20 league staged by Afghanistan Cricket Board.

I play cricket to win

Rashid Khan has yielded huge attraction at a very early stage in his career and now is aiming to achieve greater heights for the country. He is a very passionate cricketer and also scalped the first ever hat-trick in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL) this year. However, the cricketer aims to win the coveted World Cup for his country in the upcoming years.

“I play cricket to bring victories for my country and to make Afghanistan proud on the world stage. Now I want to play against the world’s best and to challenge the best teams on their home turf,” he said in an interview to AFP in Kabul. “I want to bring Afghanistan the cricket World Cup — this is the ultimate goal of my life,” the leggie continued. The 19-year-old also hoped the cricket to serve a greater purpose than just entertainment. “I believe the game of cricket… is a binding force and brings many ethnic groups together and can restore peace and stability to Afghanistan,” Rashid concluded.