The last few months have been nothing short of a dream for 18-year old Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan. He was one of the five Afghanistan players listed in the IPL 2017 auction and when the auction concluded, Rashid’s world had changed for the good. The youngster was picked for a whopping Rs 4 crore by Sunrisers Hyderabad and also became the first Afghanistan international to get an IPL deal.

The highly-rated spinner, however, had his reservations over whether he would get a suitor during the auctions.

“When the auction was in progress, I felt the pressure because I didn’t know how it would go. But thank God, I got selected. My expectation was to be part of IPL. I didn’t expect that price. I watched Imran Tahir not being picked by any team and was thinking if the No.1 bowler is not taken by any franchise, why would I be picked? But the bidding war was a surprise for me,” he told The Times Of India.

Rashid, who has been in supreme form in recent weeks, further said he is excited to share the dressing room with some of the biggest names of the game.

“It’s a great feeling to be with champions of last year’s IPL. Apart from great coaches like VVS Laxman, Tom Moody and Muralitharan, we have some wonderful players like Yuvraj Singh, Dhawan, David Warner and Kane Williamson. It is a great opportunity to learn from their experience,” said Rashid.

The second highest wicket-taker of last year’s World T20 also said that he began working hard after being sold during the auction.And his hard work on full display during the limited-overs series against Ireland last month when he bamboozled the Irish players with his tweaks. He led the bowling chart in both the ODIs and T20Is with 9 wickets in 3 T20Is and 16 scalps in 5 ODIs.

“After I got selected in IPL, I started working hard. In such a big league, I have to work harder to prove myself. There is no pressure. I just want to enjoy it. T20s are about enjoyment. The more you enjoy, the better you will perform,” he said.