Born to a Pashtun family in the village of Nangarhar, Afghanistan, the early life of Rashid Khan was spent in a refugee camp in Peshawar. He developed a passion for cricket after watching Shahid Afridi and soon started to idolise him. He moulded himself on his hero's quick-arm action and worked hard to develop different variations to succeed in this cruel batting-dominated sport.
A few months after his 17th birthday, Rashid Khan got the opportunity to represent his country. He made his ODI debut in 2015 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. The young Afghan leggie didn't take long to make an impression and soon was ruling the roost among the Associate Nations, especially in the shortest version of the game. His bowling figures of 2-1-3-5 against Ireland in a T20I match caught many eyeballs and Rashid Khan found himself in the thick of things for the Hyderabad franchise in the Indian T20 League.
Rashid's career graph ascended and him along with Mohammad Nabi became the two rising stars of Afghanistan. The leggie tumbled many records on his path to success and his 7-wicket haul in an ODI match against West Indies made him the first Associate nation cricketer to achieve this feat. In 2018, ICC named him the Associate Cricketer of the Year and there was no stopping this Afghan tsunami.
Following his success in the Indian T20 League, Rashid signed up with Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL and also took the first hat-trick of this tournament. He played for Adelaide Strikers as well in the Big Bash League and was a key part of their successful campaign. The outstanding performance of Rashid Khan coincided with the great success of Afghanistan at the Associate level and soon ICC promoted them to Full Membership and granted them the Test status.
Expectations were quite high from Rashid Khan in the 2019 Cricket World Cup but the Afghan star disappointed and it reflected in the ordinary performance of Afghanistan. But the selectors showed great belief in Rashid's potential and immediately after the mega event, the 20-year-old leg-spinner was handed over the captaincy across all formats of the game. Later on, though, Asghar Afghan was re-appointed as the captain, maybe, to let Rashid concentrate on his bowling.
2020 also started with a bombastic hat-trick for Rashid in the Big Bash League for Adelaide Strikers and he took the fifth hat-trick in the history of the BBL against Sydney Sixes in January. He also played in the Caribbean Premier League for Barbados Tridents and bagged his 300th T20 wicket and yet again became the youngest and the fastest to achieve it, and all these are just in 22 years of age. In November he was nominated as the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Decade award and in December he swept that precious award as well.
In 2021 Khan was yet again named the captain of Afghanistan’s T20I squad and got the opportunity to lead the team in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. In November of the T20 World Cup, Rashid picked his 400th scalp in Twenty20 cricket against the Kiwis.
In the Indian T20 League 2022, Rashid was roped by Gujarat with a hike in price of INR 15 Cr. and yet again he proved his class by picking 19 wickets in the season being the vice-captain of the team. However, he won the Indian T20 League for the first time in his entire career and he was equally supported by his team as well.
In April 2023, the story repeated for him for the Indian T20 League except for the finals as they faced a loss in DRS against Chennai. He took a hat-trick against Kolkata and became the fourth player to take a hat-trick in the history of the league. Rashid is a much sought-after player in T20 franchise leagues worldwide. He features for Gujarat in the Indian T20 League, Adelaide Strikers in the BBL, Lahore Qalandars in the PSL, and several other teams across leagues. His exceptional skills and experience make him a valuable asset to any team he represents.
At only 25, Rashid Khan has already achieved remarkable feats in cricket. His skill, combined with his experience in various formats and leagues, positions him to be a dominant force in world cricket for many years to come. As he continues to develop his all-around abilities, Rashid Khan has the potential to lead Afghanistan cricket to even greater heights.
