Rashid can’t wait for the real test

Rashid Khan is widely acknowledged as one of the finest bowlers in limited-over cricket today.

In February, he became the youngest male player to top the ICC rankings in any format; a month later he became the youngest captain in ODI cricket.

He is a star in the IPL. Yet he can't wait, he says, to be known as “a Test cricketer”.

That dream will be fulfilled next month, when Afghanistan plays its maiden Test, against India at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here.

It was only in 2009 that Afghanistan played its first ODI, and in 2013 the nation received ICC Associate status. It has been a staggeringly swift rise.

“It will be a big day for cricket in Afghanistan,” says Rashid. “I'm really waiting for it. I can’t wait to be called a Test cricketer. That means a lot to us. I don't think there will be anyone back home not watching that game. People in Afghanistan are crazy about cricket.”

Rashid is an unusual leg-spinner, in that he does not use his wrist but his fingers to give the ball a rip, even delivering routine leg-breaks from the back of the hand.

He bowls quicker than most spinners, a quality which when combined with his repertoire of variations makes him hard to pick.

“I use the top of my fingers, that’s where I get the speed,” he says. “If I use my wrist, I will be slower. Nobody has taught me anything; it is all natural.”

It needs reminding that he is still only 19. “Back home, they expect five wickets from me in every match,” Rashid laughs.

“If I don’t perform even in a single match, they ask, ‘What happened to you?’ There is a burden on me to do well because most of the matches I don’t do well in, we lose.”

It can be difficult to focus on the cricket sometimes when there is violence back home, Rashid admits. “We worry about it. In the last one month we had about three-four bomb blasts. We are here trying to put smiles on the faces of the people. But when blasts are happening, it's just sad.”

“We stay in touch every day with people back home. We can't be away for even 2-3 days, because anything can happen.”