The 19-year-old leg-spinner from Afghanistan Rashid Khan is in his prime form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018. He single-handedly took his team Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) into the IPL 2018 finals following his all-round performance against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Qualifier 2.
Rashid was praised for his performance with the ball and the bat as well. He showcased some serious hitting in the must-win match against KKR as he smashed 34 runs off 10 balls, including 2 fours and 4 sixes. Later with the ball, he came up with a sensational figure of 3/19. He picked up the wickets of Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn and Andre Russell to help his team fix their final date with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Impressed with Rashid’s performance, Twitterati started demanding Indian citizenship for the leggie. The buzz was so much that Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, also an ardent cricket fan, took a dig on those demanding Indian citizenship on Twitter. In his tweet, Ghani also tagged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He wrote:
Afghans take absolute pride in our hero, Rashid Khan. I am also thankful to our Indian friends for giving our players a platform to show their skills. Rashid reminds us whats best about Afg. He remains an asset to the cricketing world. No we are not giving him away. @narendramodi
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) May 25, 2018
Other than Ghani, Afghan Cricket Board Chairman Atif Mashal also expressed his views and wrote:
Thanks for the offers from those who want @rashidkhan_19. I know he is in high demand everywhere but he is not going anywhere anytime because he is a proud and patriotic Afghan.
— Atif Mashal (@MashalAtif) May 26, 2018
Now, the bowler himself has expressed his opinion on the citizenship talks. Rashid also took to Twitter before the final IPL 2018 game and wrote:
Sure Mr. Chairman, @mashalAtif I am proud Afghan and I will stay in my country and will work and fight for our nation. We spread peace and our country needs us.
— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) May 26, 2018
Rashid emerged as the most economical bowler in IPL 2018 so far with 6.78 Econ. He has bowled 158 dots in 64 overs.
Meanwhile, SRH will be facing two-time champions CSK in the IPL 2018 Final at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
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