Afghanistan international Rashid Khan has established himself as one of the premier spin bowlers since announcing his arrival in international cricket in 2015. He is known for his potential to deliver a blend of leg-spinners and googlies. With these deadly weapons in his bowling armoury, he has quickly cemented himself as a key player for the national team across formats. He is currently taking part in the ongoing edition of the IPL for Gujarat Titans. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan’s future participation in the BBL 2024-25 remains as a big doubt.
mulling over withdrawing from the league in the wake of Australia’s repeated delays of their cricket series with Afghanistan. For the record, Australia had previously cancelled a one-off Test and an ODI series that were scheduled to be held in the UAE in March 2023, citing significant worsening conditions for women and children in Afghanistan as the reason. Now it remains to be seen whether or not Rashid Khan will mark his presence in BBL 2024-25.
Rashid Khan contemplating opting out of the BBL 2024-25
The bowling all-rounder was particularly unhappy after Australia’s decision to postpone the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in August. He further added that the level of cricket in Afghanistan will improve to a great extent only when they play against top teams. Rashid Khan stressed on the fact that they get the chance to play against Australia in the World Cups but not in the bilateral events.
“It does hurt you. You do want to play against the best teams and that’s where your cricket is going to improve more and more. You only get the opportunity playing against them [Australia] in the World Cups, but not in bilateral series,” Rashid Khan echoed his thoughts.
“You don’t want to play with my colleagues and you want to play with me. So what’s the difference? It means I’m putting my colleagues down as well. My country down as well,” he further added. The bowling all-rounder also highlighted the T20I series against India as a great example of how competing with top teams enhances Afghanistan’s overall performance in the international circuit.
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“We nearly chased 200 [212] against India. Imagine if you wouldn’t have played that, where would the confidence come from? Imagine if you wouldn’t have played that, where would the confidence come from? Playing against big teams is huge for us” said Rashid Khan.