Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan has heaped praise on the beauty of the T20 leagues across the world, as he felt the franchise tournaments bring different cultures together and offer the players an opportunity to get to know each other's traditions and cultures.
He also recalled the extremely delightful moment from the first half of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) in India when the Afghan star’s Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) teammates David Warner and Kane Williamson kept fast with him during Ramadan in April 2021.
The 23-year-old had also shared the video of him fasting with Warner and Williamson and it broke the internet. He revealed that Warner and Williamson came to him and asked for sehri.
Rashid told ESPNcricinfo about the viral video, “That's a team, that's a family. As a team member, as a family members, we all need to understand each other's feelings. Then you know what is the right thing to do. Those days when Ramadan was on, we were fasting and playing. David Warner and Kane Williamson said it's pretty hard to fast and play, it's a tough job.”
He further recalled, “They wanted to fast but on an off day. They came for sehri at around 3 am. It was so good to see them fasting with us, to understand our feelings. When there was one hour left, I remember sitting by the poolside with Williamson, who was like: ‘We haven't played cricket, we haven't done anything, we have just been at the hotel, but it is so difficult to eat nothing’.”
The spinner continued, “I loved the way they came up and said we want to fast with you, we want to know the feelings. It made me so happy. I have so much respect for both of them. They even agreed to do more fasting, but the IPL was postponed.”
Rashid signed off by saying, “It's important to know each other's traditions and cultures. It automatically inculcates further respect. That's the beauty of [T20] leagues - to bring different cultures together, which makes us understand each other better.”
(With ANI Inputs)
