Rashid Khan named the Vice captain of the Afghanistan Cricket team

Rashid Khan, the 18-year-old leg spinner’s past two months has been a blessing in disguise for him. He was first picked up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) by the Sunrisers Hyderabad for a sum of 4 crores thanks to his performances in India.

He also consequently became the highest-paid Afghanistan cricketer in the IPL auctions that was conducted in the month of February. Later, in the month of March, he shook the entire world when he picked up five Irish wickets for just three runs making his 5/3 the best figure in T20 cricket for Associates.

It took only twelve deliveries for the 18-year-old leggie to clinch a five-wicket-haul in the shortest version of the game. Before this performance, there was no other cricketer in world cricket to pick up five wickets in such a little time bowling a triple-wicket maiden in the process.

The leggie followed it up with another three-wicket haul in his next outing against Porterfield’s Ireland resulting in a series win for the Tigers’. His performances propelled Afghanistan’s winning streak to 11 games in the shortest format. The Tigers’ streak of 11 wins also is the world record for most consecutive wins in T20I.

The consistent performances from the leggie have now reaped him benefits. The Afghanistan Cricket Board announced on Thursday that Rashid Khan had been selected as vice-captain of all three formats for the Afghanistan National Cricket team, a feat which the leggie must be proud of.

The 18-year-old has also become the rarest of cricketers to be made the vice-captain of an International team before the age of 20 years. By handing over, the duty to the youngster might show the world that the Afghanistan Cricketing Board is looking at the future.

With performances such as the 3-0 series win against the Irish and leading the ODI Series 1-0, it would be safe to say that the future of the Tigers’ is bright and in safe hands.