Rashid Khan wasn't a fan of a legendary leggie and there is a strong reason

Shane Warne is a massive name in the history of spin bowling with a plethora of records under his belt. In 2006, he became the first bowler to attain the colossal feat of claiming 700 Test wickets when he accomplished the same versus England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The tweaker used to provide revs on the leather, enough to ruffle the feathers of the best batsman in the business.

The 48-year old retired sportsman played 145 Tests and 194 ODIs for his nation in which he notched 708 and 293 wickets respectively. However, the skills didn’t impress Rashid Khan, which can also be comprehended from the fact that Rashid’s style is a tad different from the former Australian leg-spinner. Rashid pushes through the ball and is quick through the air, unlike Warne.

“They used to bowl quickly”- Rashid on Kumble and Afridi

Recently, the teenager mentioned that he didn’t quite like Warne early in his career. Rather, he followed the likes of Anil Kumble and Shahid Afridi as his idol. Both the sub-continent bowlers depended on pace rather than turning the ball. The attributes have earned them a significant amount of success in their respective careers.

“Shane Warne was a big spinner back then, but I didn’t like him much. Afridi and Kumble were my inspirations because they used to bowl quickly unlike Warne,” Rashid was quoted as saying in a chat show named “Breakfast with champions” anchored by Gaurav Kapoor.

Rashid, recently, played in Afghanistan’s maiden Test match versus India at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. He was touted to be the visitors’ trump card. However, he couldn’t live up to the expectations and leaked quite a bit of runs. Shikhar Dhawan laid on to him with some ferocious display of strokeplay and never allowed the tweaker to settle into a rhythm.

Here is the full video of the interview

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