Rashid Khan was born on September 20, 1998 in Nangarhar, Afghanistan. He is right arm leg break bowler and a right-handed batsman. He plays as the head spinner on his team, but has also improved on the batting front. This makes him an occasional all-rounder in his team.

He was one of eleven cricketers who played against India in Afghanistan's first-ever friendly in June 2018. He returned the most expensive bowling pieces by a debutant in a nation's first Test game. In September 2019, he led the team in the one-off Test against Bangladesh, becoming the youngest cricketer to captain a Test match team at the age of 20 years and 350 days.

In June 2017, he clinched top bowling figures for an associated nation in a One Day International (ODI) match. In February 2018, he became the youngest player to top the ICC Player Rankings for bowlers in ODIs. He also topped the ICC player rankings for bowlers in T20Is later that same month. In September 2018, after his performance at the 2018 Asia Cup, he became number one in the ICC's all-around ranking.

By becoming a successful professional cricketer from a nation with no prior cricket infrastructure, Khan paved the way for others such as compatriots Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane of Nepal.

Early Life

Rashid Khan was born in Nangarhar, eastern Afghanistan, in 1998. He is from Jalalabad and has ten siblings.

When he was young, his family fled the Afghan war and lived in Pakistan for "a few years". They later returned to Afghanistan and resumed their normal lives while Rashid continued his education. Rashid grew up playing cricket with his brothers and idolized Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi, from whom he stylized his bowling action.

Rashid Khan is unmarried. His relationship status is single. In his spare time he likes to travel as it is his hobby. Under Virat Kohli, Shahid Afridi is his favorite batsman and favorite bowler.

Domestic and T20 Franchise Career

On December 7, 2016, he made his first-class debut for Afghanistan against the England Lions in Abu Dhabi, recording 4 for 48 and 8 for 74, and notching 25 and 52.

Indian Premier League

In February 2017 he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) for 4 crores. He was also among the first two Afghan players selected for the IPL.

He made his IPL debut in the opening game of the 2017 tournament, winning two wickets as Sunrisers Hyderabad won the match by 35 runs. He finished the tournament as the sixth highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets from 14 matches.

On 5 May 2018, Khan played in his 100th Twenty20 game during the 2018 Indian Premier League. He took two wickets, made a run and was named man of the match. In March 2022, he played as vice-captain for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022.

Caribbean Premier League

A month after being selected for the IPL, he was bought by the Guyana Amazon Warriors for $60,000 to play in the 2017 Caribbean Premier League (CPL). In September 2017, he took a hat-trick for Guyana Amazon Warriors, the first hat-trick in CPL history.

In July 2020, he was named to the Barbados Tridents squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League. On 20 August 2020, in the game against the St Lucia Zouks, Khan took his 300th wicket in Twenty20 cricket. At the age of 21 years and 335 days, he became the youngest bowler to win 300 wickets in T20 cricket. He also became the fastest to take 300 wickets in the format doing that in 213 matches.

Big Bash League

In September 2017, he signed with the Adelaide Strikers to play in the 2017–18 Big Bash League, later winning the tournament.

On January 8, 2020, Rashid took the fifth hat-trick in BBL history in a game during BBL|09 against the Sydney Sixers. Since joining Strikers he has established himself as a fan favorite in Adelaide.

On January 12, 2022, in the 2021–22 Big Bash League season, Khan played in his 300th Twenty20 match. In the game, he took six wickets for 17 carries, his career-highs and third-best in the BBL.

Afghanistan Premier League

In September 2018, he was named Icon Player for Kabul Zwanan's squad at the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League tournament. Despite being on the losing side in the final, he was named player of the tournament.

Pakistani Super League

In November 2017, he was selected to play for the Quetta Gladiators in the 2018 Pakistan Super League draft player.

In October 2018, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) drafts revealed that Rashid Khan had been inducted into the 14-man platinum category. For the 2021 edition of the Pakistan Super League, he was named the first platinum pick for the Lahore Qalandars and played his first match against Peshawar Zalmi.

Other Tournaments

In October 2017 he was signed by Sussex County Cricket Club to play at the NatWest T20 Blast in England. During the first-ever player draft for The Hundred, Rashid was the top pick for the Trent Rockets at the top prize (£125,000).

In October 2018 he was called up to the Durban Heat squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament. In July 2019 he was selected to play for the Rotterdam Rhinos in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.  However, the following month the tournament was cancelled.

In December 2021, Khan was re-signed by Sussex for the 2022 T20 Blast tournament in England. In April 2022, he was purchased from The Hundred by the Trent Rockets for the 2022 season.

International Career

On October 18, 2015, he made his One Day International (ODI) debut for Afghanistan against Zimbabwe. On October 26 he made his Twenty20 International (T20I) debut, also against Zimbabwe.

On 10 March 2017, in the second T20I against Ireland, Khan picked up his first T20I victory by five wickets. His numbers of five wickets for three runs are the best bowling performance by an Afghan Cricket in a T20I and the combined fourth-best numbers in all T20Is. He became the first player to score a five-wicket draw in two overs in a T20I match. Afghanistan won the match and Rashid and Najeeb Tarakai shared the Man of the Match award.

In the ODI series against Ireland, they, along with Paul Stirling, became the first pair of bowlers from different teams to each take six wickets in the same ODI.

On June 9 he took his second ODI five-wicket draw, finishing with counts of 7 wickets for 18 runs against the West Indies at Gros Islet. It was the fourth best ODI bowling figure and the first by an associated nation cricketer to take 7 wickets. Afghanistan defended their total of 212 runs and won the game by 63 runs, and Khan was voted man of the match.

In January 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named him Associate Cricketer of the Year. The following month, he was named acting captain of the Afghan team for the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament while Afghanistan's regular captain, Asghar Stanikzai, was recovering from having his appendix removed. In February 2018, the ICC named Khan as one of ten players to watch ahead of the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament.

In April 2018 he was called up to the Rest of the World XI squad for the one-off T20I against the West Indies played at Lord's on 31 May 2018. In February 2019, in the third T20I match against Ireland, he took a hat-trick and four wickets from four balls.

Test cricket

In May 2018, he was called up to the Afghanistan squad for their first friendly against India. On June 14, 2018, he made his Test debut for Afghanistan against India. In his Test debut, he conceded 154 runs in the first innings of the game, becoming the first bowler to concede more than 150 runs in his first Test appearance by a player country.

Rashid's numbers of 2 to 154 in the first innings were also the highest number of runs conceded by a bowler in the country's first Test game, beating the previous record set by Amir Elahi, who conceded 134 runs in Pakistan's first Test against India in 1952. During the first test match in Afghanistan, he teamed with Wafadar to set a new record by becoming the first teenage couple to concede more than 100 runs each in the nation's first test match.

In February 2019, he was called up to the Afghan Test squad for their one-off game against Ireland in India. In the second innings, he took five wickets for 82 carries, becoming the first bowler for Afghanistan to hit a five-wicket pull in a Test game.

Cricket World Cup 2019

In April 2019, he was called up to Afghanistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. The International Cricket Council (ICC) named him one of the five exciting talents to make their Cricket World Cup debut.

On 1 June 2019, Khan played in Afghanistan's opening match against Australia in what was his 100th international cricket match. This included a match with a World 11 team in the Hurricane Relief T20 Challenge in May 2018. Three days later, Khan earned his 100th cap for Afghanistan against Sri Lanka.

On 18 June 2019, in a game against England, Rashid threw the most expensive ban in a Cricket World Cup match, conceding 110 runs from his nine overs.

Captaincy and the T20I Cricket World Cup

After the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Rashid was named captain of the Afghan cricket team in all three formats. His first friendly as captain came against Bangladesh in September 2019. Afghanistan won the game by 224 runs.

Rashid Khan became the first bowler for Afghanistan to score a ten-wicket move in Tests and was the first cricketer to score fifty and score a ten-wicket move in his first game as captain in a Test match. In December 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board named Asghar Afghan national captain in all three formats.

In November 2020, Khan was nominated for the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Decade Award and won the award the following month. In July 2021, Khan was reappointed as captain of the Afghan T20I team.

In September 2021, Khan was named captain of Afghanistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Championship. However, after the roster was named, Khan resigned as the team's captain, stating that the selection committee had not received its endorsement of the team.

On 7 November 2021, in Afghanistan's T20 World Cup match against New Zealand, Khan took his 400th wicket in Twenty20 cricket.

Records & Achievements

• Rashid Khan has many records to his credit as he was a brilliant player for the Afghan cricket team.
• Rashid Khan holds the record for best bowling figures by an associated nation at One Day Internationals. He achieved that record against the West Indies in 2017.
• Rashid Khan also holds the record of being the youngest player to become the No. 1 bowler in the ICC's One Day International Rankings.
• He is also the youngest player to achieve first place in the ICC T20I bowler rankings.
• Rashid Khan is also the youngest player (19 years 165 days) to lead an international squad.
• Rashid also holds the record for breaking 50 wickets in T20 Internationals. It took him only 2 years and 220 days.
• Rashid Khan is also the youngest player to win 100 wickets in One Day Internationals. He's also the fastest player to do so in just 44 games.
• Rashid also holds the record for best bowling figures for Afghanistan with 5 wickets for 3 runs.
• He is also the first player to win 5 wickets in just 2 overs in a T20I.
• Rashid Khan shares the record for most wickets by different teams in the same One Day International match along with Irish player Paul Stirling. Both players had taken 6 wickets in the match.
• He is also one of the few players to have taken 4 wickets in 4 balls.
• Rashid Khan also holds the record for most runs in a first test match (152 runs).
• He also holds the record for bowling, the most expensive World Cup ban of 110 runs in 9 overs.
• Rashid Khan is the first Afghan bowler to hit a 5-wicket and a 10-wicket pull in Test matches.
• He is also the first player to hit a 10-wicket haul as captain in Test matches.
• Rashid Khan is also the first player to score half a century and win 10 wickets in the same Test match.
• Rashid Khan also holds the record for the first-ever Caribbean Premier League hat-trick. He scored his hat trick in the 2017 season.