From being a path-breaker for Afghan players in the IPL, Rashid Khan has become a bonafide cricket superhero, with even Sachin Tendulkar calling him the best spinner in the T20 format.
It was just before the start of IPL season 10 in 2017 that I had coffee with David Warner in Hyderabad. Captain of the Sunrisers, David was excited about the season and singled out one individual. “Watch out for Rashid Khan from Afghanistan,” he said. “He has serious talent and will create trouble for most batsmen in the tournament.” I had not heard much of Rashid till then, and the first initiation was followed by a sense of excitement when I watched him bowl. With a real quick arm action for a leg-spinner, here was someone who was the first Afghan cricket superstar. And as we start IPL season 16, one has to say his transformation into an Afghan superhero is complete.
“He is the best spinner in this format,” said Sachin Tendulkar, while Sourav Ganguly has gone a step ahead and said, “Rashid has the potential to make a major difference in every format he plays.” For the moment, however, it is very much about the shortest format and the IPL, which Rashid is literally lording over.
While Rinku Singh won Kolkata Knight Riders the unlikeliest of victories and, in doing so, overshadowed Rashid’s hat-trick, it must be said that the stand-in skipper had all but won the match for the Gujarat Titans.
The best part about Rashid is that he has hardly changed in the last five years. “It feels good to be able to perform for my team,” he said once. “People in Afghanistan, including the President, watch every game we play and each good performance makes a big difference to my people back home.” He is at the forefront of an Afghan cricketing revolution.
Ask him what impact has he had on the Afghan people, and you will not miss a glint in his eye. Interestingly enough, I had asked him the same question in 2017 and 2019 and the answers were literally the same. Just that in 2019, he was much more emphatic and more confident.
“The whole world knows that we have gone through troubled times and things aren’t the best,” he said. “Against this backdrop, the IPL has come as a balm for our troubles. People know they can relax and taste success seeing me bowl and rub shoulders with the legends of the game. Everyone feels inspired seeing me do what I am doing. The IPL is a real stimulus to the sport in Afghanistan. The simple truth is if I can, others can as well and that’s what is motivating our people back home.”
So what is it that makes him special, he was once asked, and Rashid, confident and forthcoming, explained it quite beautifully. “I think the batsmen are still finding it difficult to read my quick arm action,” he said. “They can’t judge the ball from the hand because of my action, and that’s what is making the difference. I must also say I have practised my deliveries for hours and months and have developed a certain control over them. The skill doesn’t come easy, and I can only hope I will be able to improve further in the months and years to come.”
Can Rashid do what a Jackie Robinson did in the United States of America in the 1940s? Was breaking the colour line any more significant than battling insurgency and making a mark in a global sporting world? Can he, already a cult figure in war-torn Afghanistan and who every kid in his province aspires to be, take the legacy beyond the IPL and into the international cricket fold? Can Afghanistan, who have just beaten Pakistan in T-20 internationals, keep getting better?
Playing a stellar hand in the Titans campaign, Rashid has not only enhanced his own reputation and that of his team, but he has also time and again catapulted Afghanistan to the forefront of world cricket’s consciousness. Just as Sachin unhesitatingly calls him the best in the business in cricket’s shortest format, it is time to unhesitatingly award him the title of the first Afghan cricket superhero.