Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan Arman (Pashto: راشد خان ارمان; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and captain of the Afghanistan national team in the T20I format. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Australia's Big Bash League (BBL), Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Band-e-Amir Dragons in Afghanistan's Shpageeza Cricket League and MI New York in Major League Cricket (MLC). He bowls right-arm leg spin and is an aggressive right-handed batsman.

He was one of the eleven cricketers to play in Afghanistan's first Test match, against India, in June 2018. He returned the most expensive bowling figures by a debutant in a nation's maiden Test match. In September 2019, he led the team in the one-off Test against Bangladesh, and at the age of 20 years and 350 days, became the youngest cricketer to captain a Test match side.

In June 2017, he took the best bowling figures for an associate nation in a One Day International (ODI) match. In February 2018, he became the youngest player to top the ICC Player Rankings for bowlers in ODIs. Later the same month, he also topped the ICC Player Rankings for bowlers in T20Is. In September 2018, he became the number one player in the ICC's all-rounder rankings, following his performance at the 2018 Asia Cup.

In March 2018, during the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier, he captained Afghanistan for the first time in an ODI match. At the age of 19 years and 165 days, he became the youngest player to captain an international side. In the final of the Cricket World Cup Qualifier, against the West Indies, Khan became the fastest and youngest bowler to take 100 wickets in ODIs when he dismissed Shai Hope. He took 44 matches to take his 100th dismissal, breaking the previous record of 52 matches, set by Mitchell Starc of Australia. In June 2018, he became the fastest bowler, in terms of time, to take 50 wickets in T20Is. He reached the milestone in two years and 220 days, in the first T20I against Bangladesh. In October 2021, he also became the fastest bowler, in terms of matches, to take 100 wickets in T20I cricket, in his 53rd match.

In April 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named Khan as the team's new T20I captain, replacing Asghar Afghan. Khan was also appointed as the vice-captain of the ODI squad. In June 2019, during the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Khan played in his 100th international cricket match for Afghanistan. Following the World Cup, Khan was appointed as captain of the Afghanistan cricket team across all formats. However, in December 2019, the ACB reappointed Asghar Afghan as the captain of the Afghanistan cricket team across all formats. In 2017 Rashid Khan won Associate Cricketer of the Year award and also in December 2020, Rashid Khan was named the ICC Men's T20I Cricketer of the Decade.

Rashid Khan was born in 1998 in a Shinwari Pashtun family in Nangarhar, Eastern Afghanistan. His family, including ten siblings, hails from Jalalabad and owned a tyre business in Nangarhar until the Afghan war. Rashid's family fled the war and lived in Pakistan for a few years.

Rashid grew up playing cricket with his brothers and idolised Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi, after whom he stylised his bowling action, and South African batsman AB de Villiers. Although initially more proficient as a batsman, he later excelled in leg-spin bowling.

Rashid attended the Islamia College Peshawar, where he studied computer science until 2013, having gained admission due to his sports skills. He came to prominence in 2014 when he performed notably in matches played in Peshawar when the Afghan cricket team toured Pakistan.