Hyderabad's star spinner, Rashid Khan recalls his journey to the top en route a severe shortage of sports facilities in conflict-hit Afghanistan
Hyderabad leggie Rashid Khan during the match against Bangalore in Bangalore on Thursday. Pic/PTI
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Rashid Khan may be bamboozling batsmen all over the world and more so in the T20 2018 at the moment but he may not even be the best leggie in his family. He has seven brothers and all of them bowl leg spin, he says. And he, in fact, started as a batsman before someone simply told him 'you are now a bowler and so you will bat at No. 8 and not at the top'. That was it, Rashid the leg-spinner was born, he explained in a free-wheeling chat with select media here.
From batsman to bowler
"When I started cricket I was a batsman. I was an opening or one down batsman and a part-time bowler because I had no control over my leg spin at that time. I was bowling just one or two overs in a match. But when I started playing three-day matches, I got 21 wickets in three matches. They then took my batting slot down to No. 8, saying you are now a bowler. That was it, I then focused on my bowling and worked hard on it."
Rashid is not a typical leg-spinner, there's a lot about him that's different and that's why batsmen have found him tough to deal to with. "I don't use my wrist, I only use my fingers and that's what makes me different," he explained. "I use the top of my fingers, that's where I get the speed. If I use my wrist, I'll be slower." Being from Afghanistan where's there hardly a structure in place, albeit Rashid says that part is slowly changing for the better, there wasn't any coaching available as such. "Nobody has taught me anything.
It is all natural, even the back of the finger googlies. I've discussed with other leg-spinners as well. They were surprised too and said they haven't seen a leg-spinner like me, who can bowl with his fingers and back of the hand," said Rashid, 19. The teenager doesn't believe in too much planning either.
Teenager on top
"I just have one thing on my mind, that is to bowl a good length to the batsman. With the first few balls I bowl, I try to figure out what the batsman is trying to do. Then I decide on how and which area I should bowl."
That's all very well but how easy is it to be a cricketer in Afghanistan? How does he manage to stay focused despite all the violence back home? "We worry about the situation back home. In the last one month, we had about three to four bomb blasts in Afghanistan. That makes us very sad. We are here trying to produce some good performances and put smiles on the faces of our people. But if that still does not happen and blasts are happening... it's just sad. But we don't give up. We just try and put on some extra good performances so that our people can celebrate and get these negative things out of their minds," he said.
Tense situation back home
He did think that cricket could be the balm his troubled people needed. "If you perform well here, Afghanistan's name will be known for good reasons all over the world. Earlier, if someone thought about Afghanistan, they only thought negative. Now if someone asks you about Afghanistan, the next thing you will say is about cricket and about us. The image of Afghanistan is changing. That's what you have to do. And we're trying our best, to change that image." Let's hope Rashid and his band of cricketers manage to bring about a change.
Also read - World Cup Qualifier: Rashid Khan spins Afghanistan to victory over UAE
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