Rashid Khan adapts to Tamil, eyes historic 700th T20 wicket

Chennai: Rashid Khan caught many by surprise ahead of Afghanistan’s opening game against New Zealand, casually dropping a couple of Tamil words in the middle of his responses.

That charming effort to adapt to the local language is akin to the wizardry he produces with his variations on the field.



The Afghanistan skipper, the world’s finest T20 wrist-spinner, is just four wickets away from becoming the first bowler to take 700 wickets in T20 cricket.

“Feeling nalla (good). I’ve only played 9–10 years of international cricket overall and to be the leading wicket-taker is more than a dream for me. But I never counted my wickets. I only knew about it through the media. I know 700 wickets is not something small. To get there, it takes a lot of time and hard work,” a cheerful Rashid said.

Even as Rashid chases a milestone, he knows competition from Afghanistan’s next generation, the very players who once idolised him, is pushing him to work even harder.

The country’s Under-19 team went down in the semifinals of the recent ODI World Cup.

Speaking about the new crop, especially spinners coming up, he said: “If I’m not playing tomorrow or if I’m not there, we have the back-ups, and we have the options where they can come in with the good skills and do well for the team.

“We have a number of players who did well at the U-19 level. It made us push ourselves and work very hard. If we don’t take things seriously, they are the ones who are going to step in. If you are not performing, a youngster will have more hunger and commitment than you, so you have to step back and give him an opportunity.”


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