Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s cricket star, has reached a historic milestone, becoming the T20 cricket’s highest wicket-taker. The 26-year-old leg-spinner surpassed Dwayne Bravo’s record of 631 wickets when he bowled Dunith Wellalage during the SA20 Qualifier 1 against the Paarl Royals on Tuesday.
“It’s a great achievement,” Rashid said in a post-match interview. “If you had asked me 10 years ago whether I would reach this point, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s a proud feeling to be from Afghanistan and to be at a level where you top the table. DJ [Bravo] is one of the best T20 bowlers, and it’s a great honor to be up there with him. I’m looking forward to continuing.”
Since making his T20 debut as a teenager in October 2015, Rashid has become one of the most sought-after players in franchise cricket. He is approaching 500 matches across various leagues, including the Indian Premier League, the Pakistan Super League, and Australia’s Big Bash League. He has won both IPL and PSL titles and became a fan favorite in Adelaide, where he played 69 matches for the Strikers, including a career-best performance of six wickets for 17 runs.
Rashid’s success has stemmed from his ability to bowl with pace and precision, keeping the stumps in play while giving batters little time to react. His deceptive variations—often difficult to read off the hand—have made him one of the toughest bowlers to face in the game. Over time, opposition teams have opted for a defensive approach against him, seeking to avoid risks rather than attack. Despite that, he has recorded 20 instances of taking four or more wickets in an innings, a testament to his ability to dominate a match.
Yet Rashid has maintained that wicket-taking is not always his primary objective. “If someone is going after me, I’m going to make it super hard for him,” he said in an interview with The Cricket Monthly last year. “If he still hits it, it’s a good shot. But I won’t ease down on creating pressure. It’s more about making things harder and harder for the batter.”
As his career has progressed—including stints in the Hundred, the Caribbean Premier League, and the Bangladesh Premier League—Rashid has also refined his batting. Known for his aggressive lower-order hitting, he has developed a signature stroke called the “snake shot,” in which he manipulates his wrists to power the ball even off a yorker-length delivery. One of his most memorable all-round performances came in the 2018 IPL playoffs, when he struck 34 off 10 balls for Sunrisers Hyderabad before taking three wickets for 19 runs and holding onto two catches to help secure victory.
His impact on the game has been reflected in his value on the franchise circuit. The Gujarat Titans, his current IPL team, retained him for 150 million rupees (about $1.8 million), underscoring his stature as one of T20 cricket’s most influential players.
