Rashid Khan concludes 2018 as the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket

Rashid Khan, the 20-year-old leg-break bowler from Afghanistan, has turned out to be a revelation in world cricket ever since he made his international debut back in October 2015. Among the three formats, he has been the most dominant in the T20 format and is currently International Cricket Council’s (ICC) number-one ranked bowler in T20 Internationals.

The year 2018 also turned out to be a memorable one for Rashid as he finished the year as the leading T20 wicket-taker with 96 wickets from 61 matches, though he missed out on becoming the first bowler in the format to notch 100 wickets in a year. He bowled at an economy of 6.35, which is stupendous in a generation of slam-bang cricket, and a decent average of 15.46.

Rashid Khan weaving his magic

His best figures of 4/12 came against Bangladesh back in June. He bettered his own record as well as he picked up 80 wickets from 56 matches back in 2017. Moreover, he surpassed former Windies’ cricketer Dwayne Bravo’s record of 87 wickets from 72 matches back in 2016. Earlier in April-May, Rashid plied his trade for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In that tournament, Rashid picked up 21 wickets from 17 matches at an economy rate of 6.73 and riding on his stupendous performance, Kane Williamson and Co progressed to the final against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Young Turk then took 17 wickets in 11 matches, playing for Sussex Sharks in the T20 Blast.

Khan thereafter captained the Kabul Zwanan to the final of the inaugural Afghanistan Premier League (APL). He took 10 wickets from nine matches at an economy rate of 6.53. Rashid is presently honing his skills for Adelaide Strikers in the eighth edition of the Big Bash League (BBL). Rashid was also a part of the Strikers when they won the championship last season.

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