Rashid Khan grew up in a war-torn Afghanistan and rose through the ranks. Ever since his debut IPL season in 2017, Rashid Khan has garnered all the right eyeballs owing to his mastery with the ball. The leg-spinner turned in a few memorable match-winning efforts in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s journey to the finals of the 2018 edition.
He took 21 wickets and emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker in that edition. Over the years he has been one of the most sought-after players in global franchise T20 leagues and with a wealth of experience, he is definitely a threat to the opposition. In IPL, he has picked 85 scalps in 69 games averaging 20.1 at an economy rate of 6.23. His economy rate is the best in IPL history, even better than Anil Kumble, Glenn McGrath, and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Rashid Khan’s Participation In Remainder Of IPL 2021 Uncertain As Taliban Takes Over Afghanistan
With the political situation taking a new turn in Afghanistan, uncertainty, and unpredictability is looming around the future of their top cricketers, especially Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi, as both of whom are due to compete in the remainder of the IPL in the UAE from September 19. The Taliban is set to take over the reins of the South Asian country as President Ashraf Ghani has reportedly fled to Tajikistan.
Rashid Khan is playing for Trent Rockets and Mohammed Nabi is representing London Spirits. The duo isn’t in Afghanistan. They are in the United Kingdom, competing in the ‘Hundred’ tournament. The BCCI is keeping an eye on the developments and is hoping to see the participation of Afghan players in the India Premier League.
“It is too early to comment but we are keeping a watch. For us, nothing changes and we expect Rashid and other Afghan players would be part of IPL,” a BCCI source told PTI.
It remains to be seen if Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi stay back in the UK after completion of ‘The Hundred’ on August 21 as they have families back home. And if they decide to stay back in the UK, it will be interesting to see if the BCCI asks them to be on the same charter flight that will take the Indian players to the UAE from Manchester on September 15. Both Rashid Khan and Mohammed Nabi play for Sunrisers Hyderabad. The BCCI is expected to speak with the Afghanistan Cricket Board on the situation.
Afghanistan’s all-rounder and one of their most dependable players, Mohammad Nabi has been instrumental in Afghanistan’s rise through the ranks to the 2015 Cricket World Cup and their induction into the Test club. He is a right-hand middle-order batsman and a clever off-spinner who has often chipped in with critical performances for Afghanistan and for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, And Mujeeb ur Rahman’s Participation In IPL 2021 When It Resumes Is Doubtful
As per ICC’s FTP schedule, Afghanistan is scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for six white-ball games this month but the final schedule is still not out yet. Rashid Khan is also Afghanistan’s T20 captain.
Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi, and Mujeeb-ur Rahman are some of the Afghanistan players who are regular features in IPL teams. Rashid Khan is one of the most sought-after T20 freelancers in world cricket currently. Both Mohammed Nabi and Rashid Khan have urged the world leaders to intervene as Afghanistan faces its worst socio-political crisis in the last two decades.
“Dear World Leaders! My country is in chaos, thousand of innocent people, including children & women, get martyred everyday, houses & properties being destructed. Thousands of families displaced. Don’t leave us in chaos. Stop killing Afghans & destroying of Afghanistan. We want peace,” Rashid had tweeted a few days back.
Afghanistan’s Mujeeb-ur Rahman had taken IPL 2018 by storm on his way to picking 14 wickets in 11 matches at under 7 runs an over. He also became a part of Afghanistan’s first-ever Test match against India in 2018, following a superb season with the ball.
He didn’t have a memorable 2019 and 2020 season as he picked up only three wickets from a total of seven games in two years. After being part of Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings), Mujeeb-ur Rahman would have gained some much-needed experience and will be looking to make the most of his outing in 2021 with Sunrisers Hyderabad.