Rashid Khan becomes third youngest T20 captain
What's the story?
Afghan cricketer Rashid Khan today became the third youngest captain to lead a T20 side at the age of 18 years and 357 days. He led the Band-e-Amir Dragons in the Shpageeza Cricket League (SCL), a domestic T20 League organised by the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
Prior to him, Pakistan's Taimur Ali and Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal became the first and second youngest players to lead a side in a T20 match at the age of 17, and 18 years and 151 days respectively.
In case you didn't know...
Popular for his accurate googly deliveries, Rashid made his T20 debut in 2015 along with his ODI debut at the age of 17. He swiftly climbed to fame with his accurate bowling lines being lauded by everyone in the cricket fraternity.
He has 137 wickets to his name in the 106 T20s that he has played, including the International and domestic circuit. Earlier this year, he took hi maiden five-wicket haul in the second T20I against Ireland and his 5/3 is the fourth best bowling figure in T20Is.
In 2017 edition of the Indian Premier League, he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He also bagged his maiden hat-trick while playing for Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The details
Yesterday, in the third match of the SCL, Rashid's Band-e-Amir Dragons was up against Mis Ainak Knights. Vusi Sibanda's 59 off 53 balls helped Mis Ainak Knights put up a total of 139 for their opponents to chase.
After his half-century, Sibanda was dismissed by Rashid. Following that, he quickly dismissed and RP Burl Sikandar Raza.
However, his team BEAD was unsuccessful in chasing down the score by being all out for 133 in 18.5 overs. Thus, the Mis Ainak Knights won the match by 6 runs in a nail-biting encounter.
What's next?
Rashid has reached several milestones at a very young age. This is bound to increase his standing in international Cricket. His reputation will fetch him good offers from different franchises in other domestic T20 leagues like the IPL, CPL and Global T20 League.
Author's take
Rashid has grabbed everyone's attention since his debut. He knows his strength lies in devising the perfect line and length while bowling. That, in turn, enables him to deliver the deceiving googlies that approach the batsmen as nightmares.
Moreover, handing him captaincy at this age must have exposed him to the responsibilities of a leader. He should take this opportunity to learn every detail about this role and polish his skills both as a bowler and as a captain.
Rashid has a very promising future and if he chooses to work hard, the cricketing world will soon welcome a new bowling legend.