Rashid Khan etched his name in the history books |courtesy – Aafghanistan Cricket Board
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Rashid Khan set a massive world record
- Rashid Khan is leading Afghanistan in T20Is
- Rashid achieved a huge captaincy feat
Rashid Khan etched his name in the history books during the ongoing T20I tri-series taking place in Sharjah, where the Afghanistan cricket team are competing against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Pakistan in what is a dress rehearsal for the 2025 Asia Cup, which will take place from September 9 to 28.
After Afghanistan lost the opening game of the tournament to Pakistan, the Rashid-led side made a strong comeback on Monday and Tuesday (September 1 and 2) by beating the UAE by 38 runs before winning the reverse fixture against the Men in Green by 18 runs, which has put them on the cusp of making the final.
Rashid Khan Creates History
Rashid was key to the victories on back-to-back days as his side certified their claims as a strong contender to win the Asia Cup. In the match against the UAE, Rashid took a three-wicket haul while conceding just 21 runs in his spell of four overs. Against Pakistan, the 26-year-old took a two-wicket haul while giving away 30 runs in four overs
As a result, Rashid set a world record by becoming the first captain from a full-member nation to take 50 wickets in T20Is. The record previously belonged to Shakib Al Hasan, which the Afghanistan skipper had broken in December against Zimbabwe.
| Player | Wickets | Country |
| Rashid Khan | 54 | Afghanistan |
| Shakib Al Hasan | 46 | Bangladesh |
| Tim Southee | 43 | New Zealand |
| Shahid Afridi | 40 | Pakistan |
| Sikandar Raza | 40 | Zimbabwe |
Full Member Nations: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, Pakistan, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe
Overall, if associate nations are also counted, Rashid is the sixth captain to take over 50 wickets in T20 cricket after Jersey’s Charles Perchard (83), Kuwait’s Mohammad Aslam (76), Rwanda’s Clinton Rubagumya (58), Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus (54), and Austria’s Aqib Iqbal (50).
Over the last two days, Rashid also went past Tim Southee and became the highest wicket-taker in T20Is and broke New Zealand cricket legend Tim Southee’s record, who had 164 wickets. Rashid has 167 wickets in the shortest format, out of which 165 have come for Afghanistan and two for ICC XI.