IPL 2020: Rashid Khan deeply saddened after Najeeb Tarakai’s demise

Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan cricketer, expressed his grief after his national teammate Najeeb Tarakai passed away on Tuesday, October 6. The latter came across a car accident around a week ago in the Jalalabad city after which he was admitted to the hospital on the immediate basis. After staying in coma for a few days, the youngster breathed his last on Tuesday at 4:00 am.

Rashid is currently a part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and is in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). On Thursday, October 8, the SRH players wore black armbands in their match against the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

“He (Najeeb) was a good friend, human being and we lost him two days ago in an accident, it is something shocking,” Rashid was quoted as saying after the conclusion of the match.

Najeeb made his debut back in the 2014 T20 World Cup in Bangladesh and went on to play 12 T20Is and a solitary ODI. He last donned the national jersey in the 2019 T20I tri-nation series in Bangladesh also involving Zimbabwe. Back in September, he played his last competitive game in the Shpageeza Cricket League, representing the MIS Ainak Knights.

Rashid Khan shining for SRH

Rashid had an excellent day against KL Rahul’s KXIP. The tweaker didn’t get the Player of the Match award, but impressed one and all with his slow leg-breaks. In four overs, he gave only 12 runs and picked up the wickets of Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, and Mohammed Shami. In his spell, he also bowled as many as 13 dot balls and also churned out a maiden over.

On the back of his stupendous spell, the Sunrisers went on to win the match by 69 runs. The Nangarhar-born nipped out Pooran at a stage when the left-hander was batting on 77 at a strike-rate in excess of 200 with five fours and seven sixes.

Prior to Thursday’s game, Rashid also got a three-wicket haul against the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. In six matches thus far in IPL 2020, Rashid has eight wickets and has arguably been the standout bowler for SRH.