IPL 10: Afghanistan star Rashid Khan gets the Purple Cap

Young Afghanistan leggie Rashid Khan has made it a habit to be in the news. Ever since he was drafted n the Sunrisers Hyderabad camp in the IPL 2017, he has been a prominent name for the fans. The 18-year old became the first Afghanistan player to play in the Indian Premier League.

He made his debut against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the season opener and impressed with a two-wicket haul. Now, playing his very second game of the season, he has entered the record books as the first Purple cap holder of IPL 10. Rashid Khan returned with figures of 3/19 in his quota of 4 overs. He was simply superb to watch as the Gujarat Lions had absolutely no clue about his googlies.

He got a wicket each in his first three overs on the day. He started off by getting rid of Brendon McCullum in his first over. The next in line was Aaron Finch who was trapped lbw by the young Afghan. Lastly, he got the big fish of Gujarat Lions skipper Suresh Raina to complete his trio of three wickets. In the innings break, he was handed the Purple cap by commentator Michael Clarke.

Rashid expressed his happiness at having received the cap. He thanked all the support of the Indian fans and his fans back home in Afghanistan. He pointed out that the wicket of Brendon McCullum was his most priced one.

He quoted, “It is a wonderful moment for me. I would like to keep the good work going till the end. It’s difficult for the batsmen to pick my googlies. It’s a good track and if you bowl wicket-to-wicket here, it will be tough for the batsmen. We have lots of support here and thanks to all the support in Afghanistan. I bowl according to the conditions and Baz’s is my favourite wicket. Hopefully, our batsmen will try and chase this score.”

Here is how the Twitterati reacted to his achievement: