For Me, Rashid Khan Is The MVP In Any Match In Any League - Shaun Pollock
Published - 04 Sep 2021, 08:00 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:52 AM
Former South Africa pacer Shaun Pollock has hailed Afghanistan legspinner, Rashid Khan, as the Most Valuable Player in the shortest format, “in any match in any league”. The 22-year-old is arguably the best T20 spinner in the world and is a much sought-after cricketer across the globe.
With his fast action, and a number of variations up his sleave – not least the quicker googly, his main weapon, which has flummoxed even the best of the batters – Rashid Khan is almost impossible to read and get after.
He has been part of a staggering 277 T20 matches already, in which he has picked up 384 wickets, at an average of just 17.46, and a brilliant economy of 6.33. The right-hander strikes at 146.41 with the bat in those games and is a gun fielder in the outfield. These enviable three-dimensional skills of Rashid Khan make him an MVP for Pollock.
“Rashid Khan is an absolute game-changer. He is so dangerous with the ball, and his four overs are the most crucial overs in any T20 match that he’s part of. His skill and craft with the ball is just exceptional. He is also a decent contributor with the bat, and can knock it about in the death overs at times. For me, he is the MVP in any match in any league that he is playing,” Shaun Pollock said, when he made a special guest appearance during the first Rario Pack Reveal Party, as quoted by mykhel.com.
Rashid Khan made Afghanistan’s T20 captain for the second time
Rashid Khan has been named Afghanistan’s T20 captain, replacing Asghar Afghan, and he will be leading his country in the T20 World Cup. This will be the second stint as the skipper for the young leggie – he led Afghanistan in T20Is for three months between September and November 2019, before Asghar Afghan took over.
The Nangarhar-born has snapped 95 wickets in 51 T20Is so far at a remarkable average of 12.63. He has been pivotal in Afghanistan’s rise as a competitive T20 side – they defeated West Indies in the 2016 T20 World Cup – in the past half-a-decade.
Khan will next be seen in action during the second half of IPL 2021 in the UAE. Bowling for Sunrirsers Hyderabad, he had taken 10 wickets in 7 matches this season before the tournament was suspended.
