IPL 2018: Praise from greats like Sachin Tendulkar motivates me, says Rashid Khan

The young man has been outstanding with his wrists.

Rashid Khan's brilliance was the key for his team. (IANS)

The Afghanistan player and one of the best wrist-spinners in world cricket, Rashid Khan has stated that it is the praise from legends like Sachin Tendulkar that motivates him more to focus on his game and keep doing great things for his country.

Rashid is the pride of his nation, as he has been playing across the world for various T20 teams in different T20 competitions and has justs started playing top-level international cricket. All at the age of just 19 years.

Recently, Rashid got praised by the master blaster himself, as Sachin Tendulkar appreciated him over Twitter for his magnificent spell in the second qualifier of the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

It was a singlehanded effort from Rashid that won an all-important game for his team.

Rashid talked about that tweet recently to TOI said, “When I got into the bus, a friend sent me a screenshot of the tweet and I was shocked to see it. I was thinking for like 1-2 hours before I could eventually reply. I really didn’t know what to write, but finally, I replied,”

“The whole of Afghanistan seemed to have seen that tweet. Tendulkar is very, very famous there and everyone was surprised that he had such high praise for me. Statements like these motivate young players,”

Rashid got a lot of wickets this season but three of them were special, he says. “Getting rid of Virat (Kohli), AB (de Villiers) and MS Dhoni was very satisfying. In fact, I consider them the best wickets of my career so far. They are really good players of spin bowling so getting them out made it memorable for me.”

Rashid is now ready for his country's historic maiden Test match, when they play India from the 14th June in Banglore. He knows the enormity of the occasion,  “It’s a big match for us as playing Tests is a dream for every cricket-playing nation. All of us who are selected for that match will consider ourselves lucky. After all, we will be making history. And, it doesn’t get bigger than the fact that we will be playing India in India.”

He concluded by talking about how big him and subsequently cricket is in Afghanistan, while also sharing how he feels as a young man staying away from his family for so long.

“As far as I know, after the President of the country, maybe, I am the person who is most popular in Afghanistan.I have not been able to spend too much time with my family, finding myself with them barely for 15 to 20 days,”

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 29 May, 2018

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