Martin Guptill hopes that Rashid Khan can help Guyana lift their maiden CPL title

Afghanistan’s star leg-spinner Rashid Khan, ahead of the Guyana Warriors’ match against the Patriots, is the talk of the tournament. His arrival has led Martin Guptill to believe that the Warriors will reach the CPL final for the fourth time, and hopefully win it as well. Such is the faith the senior players have on Rashid.

He recalled the Warriors losing three finals but reckoned that losing is a part of the game. However, he also expressed disappointment on always playing their worst game in the final. Along with Rashid, his national teammate Mohammad Nabi will also play the tournament. He will be playing for the Patriots. Both Rashid and Nabi made their IPL debuts earlier this year and gained a lot of recognition.

“Everyone talks about how we’ve been in three finals and lost three finals but at the end of the day that’s cricket,” Guptill told ESPNcricinfo. “You’re not gonna win every game you play. We played some pretty incredible cricket up to that and unfortunately we played our worst game in the final.”

Good recent form 

Along with his good outing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, Rashid also impressed one and all on the tour to West Indies, in where he registered his best bowling figures of 7 for 18 in the first ODI. “The squad looks a little different to last year but we’ve got some pretty exciting young cricketers coming,” Guptill said.

“Rashid Khan, you know what he did in the IPL this year and what he’s done for Afghanistan. It’s extremely exciting and I can’t wait to watch the likes of him get the ball in hand and see what he can do in a couple of days’ time,” he added.

With Test cricket awaiting Afghanistan, the team’s young guns will get more opportunities to fire away.