Afghanistan’s teenage sensation Rashid Khan single-handedly took his team, Sunrisers Hyderabad to the finals of the IPL 2018, as his all-around show against KKR in the second qualifier won SRH the game.
Rashid is perhaps the most popular Afghanistan player in the world and one of the biggest ambassadors for the game of cricket from the country. Rashid scored 34* in 10 balls and picked 3/19 against KKR on Friday (May 25) at Eden Gardens, as SRH defeated KKR by 14 runs and moved into the finals. SRH will face CSK in the finals on Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday (May 27).
India’s cricket crazy fans became huge fans of the teenager and took to Twitter to request Minister of External Affairs of India, Sushma Swaraj to grant Rashid Khan Indian citizenship.
Fans tweeted praising the Afghan leggie and asked Indian citizenship for them.
Somebody please give Rashid Khan an Indian Citizenship! That man deserves to play more international cricket! Afghanistan has a legendary player in the making! #SRHvKKR #rashidkhan #IPL2018 @IPL
— Kaustubh Dhonde (@kaustubh_dhonde) May 25, 2018
Is there any way, Rashid Khan can be given Indian citizenship? We need him in our XI
— Anish Chowdhary (@anish2k11) May 25, 2018
Indian Redditor wants @BCCI to exchange Ravindra Jadeja with Rashid Khan. ???????? pic.twitter.com/vpondzqNlQ
— Sohini (@Mittermaniac) May 25, 2018
Minister of External Affairs of India, Sushma Swaraj had previously acknowledged the increasing power of Afghanistan in cricket arena and when they received Test status, had said to PTI, “The fact that Afghanistan attained the status of a Test- playing cricketing nation is a testament to the indomitable spirit of the people of Afghanistan to not let the forces of death and destruction prevail.”
She took notice of all the tweets and responded in her usual witty manner saying, “I have seen all the tweets. Citizenship matters are dealt with by Ministry of Home affairs”
However, she deleted the tweet a while later, but here is a screenshot of her reply.
