[In Pictures] Rashid Khan ties the knot in Kabul as per Pashtun customs
Afghanistan's T20I skipper Rashid Khan got married in Kabul as per Pashtun customs on Thursday, October 3. The ace leg spinner tied the knot in a grand ceremony at the Imperial Continental Hotel.
Rashid, his brother, and two nephews got married on the same day. His Afghan teammates were in attendance for the wedding ceremony.
Pakistani journalist Imran Siddique shared a few pictures on the microblogging platform X, giving fans a glimpse of Rashid's wedding in Afghanistan's capital city.
One of Rashid Khan's fan clubs also shared a video of the fireworks at the hotel amid the cricket star's marriage ceremony.
Rashid Khan is undoubtedly the biggest cricket star in Afghanistan. With 613 wickets from 445 innings, he is the second-highest wicket-taker in the T20 format.
Under Rashid's captaincy, the side scripted history by qualifying for the semifinal of the 2024 T20 World Cup, their first-ever World Cup semifinal. However, their campaign ended with a heartbreaking nine-wicket loss to South Africa.
"I never made a statement" - When Rashid Khan clarified that he never said he would only marry after Afghanistan won a World Cup
In 2020, a statement suggesting that Rashid Khan would only get married once Afghanistan won a World Cup went viral. However, the crafty spinner later clarified that he had never made such a statement.
He emphasized that he had stated that his focus wasn't on marriage at that time, given that there were three World Cups (2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups and 2023 ODI World Cup) lined up.
Speaking to AFP in 2021, Rashid said:
"Actually, I was so shocked when I heard this because, to be honest, I never made a statement that I will marry once I win the World Cup. I just said that in the next few years I have more cricket and three World Cups so my focus will be on cricket rather than on getting married."
Rashid missed Afghanistan's ODI series against Ireland and the one-off Test against New Zealand earlier this year due to a back issue. He returned to action in the three-match ODI series against South Africa in the UAE, which the Afghani side won by a 2-1 margin.