Rashid Khan

One of the greatest T20 bowlers in the world, and the biggest name to come out of Afghanistan cricket, Rashid Khan's meteoric rise has been a story of hope and inspiration for his countrymen in difficult times.

Marketing leg-spin's modern face with chic, Rashid outnumbers legbreaks with googlies, something he has perfected into a reliable and somewhat retaliatory weapon, and executes it without being ever so predictable. Having doted on Shahid Afridi's modus operandi since childhood, Rashid bowls similar lines - linear, from stump to stump - and does so at quick pace, rebelliously using his fingers more than the wrists, thus not allowing the batsman any time to shimmy out and get to the pitch of the ball. As much as his visible profile may belie, Rashid is also an agile fielder who is well capable of putting in the dives, and then excels at clearing the big ropes in the slog overs to top it all.

Spin to the right. Spin to the left. Skid on straight. You are never quite sure of what Rashid Khan is gonna serve. Labelled as a legspinner, Rashid has a rainbow of variations in his bowling armoury and has been the most-sought bowler, since his debut, in leagues all around the globe. Interestingly, a lot of batsmen struggle to pick his variations as he barely alters his arm-speed while delivering the ball. In February 2017, Rashid fetched the highest IPL bid for any Associate nation player ever, eventually having been bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 4 crore at the same auction that abandoned world's top-ranked limited-overs bowler Imran Tahir, 38 then, red-faced with no bids whatsoever.

Rashid soon became a vital cog in Sunrisers' line-up and his ability to bowl at any stage during the game made him almost indispensable in the side. A gun fielder, he proved his batting and catching credentials in the 2018 edition and made quite a few headlines for grabbing a one-handed stunner at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru to dismiss Colin de Grandhomme near the boundary ropes. In his five years with the Sunrisers, he took 93 wickets and went at an economy rate of 6.33. In 2022, he was picked up by Gujarat Titans and played an instrumental role in their title-winning campaign.

His achievements on the international stage have been no less impressive. Making his debut at the age of just 17, Rashid soon became the quickest to 100 ODI wickets, and also the quickest to 100 T20I wickets. In a short Test career, he has already bowled Afghanistan to victories against Ireland, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.