Lalchand Rajput Reveals How Rashid Khan Became the No 1 Bowler in the World

There is no doubt about the fact that Afghan leg-spinner, Rashid Khan is one of the very best in the business.

He has become one of the finest spinners especially in the shortest format of the game. His name will be the first one on the list whose names India might discuss in their strategy meeting. The Afghans are all set to make their Test debut against India in a one-off Test starting at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.

Rashid was at his very best during the Indian Premier League. He then made the Bangladesh batsmen dance to his tunes in the following three-match T20I series.

He bagged eight wickets in the three-match series, as Afghanistan routed Bangladesh by a 3-0 margin. He is one of the best bowlers in limited-overs cricket today. However, the situation wasn’t quite the same even a couple of years ago when Rashid was not making any headlines.

Rashid was a great bowler even back then. However, that was at the Associate level, and not many predict him to carry his form to the next level.

Former Afghanistan coach and an Indian player, Lalchand Rajput recalled a story which goes on to prove that how special was the rise of Rashid.

“When I began coaching the Afghanistan team, I was introduced to this impressive under-19 spinner Rashid Khan. He was naturally talented. His arm speed was very fast, and his bowling style was different.

“After six to seven months, when I thought he was good enough to play the IPL, I called up a few people. I called up Virender Sehwag and told him there was a talented leg-spinner, and since Kings XI Punjab did not have too many spin options, Rashid could be a good choice for them. Sehwag said KXIP had had Axar Patel.. ‘We don’t need spinners, we need all-rounders’.”

“I also called up Gautam Gambhir (then captain of Kolkata Knight Riders). I knew they had issues with Sunil Narine at the time with uncertainty around his action. He refused and said ‘We have Narine and Kuldeep Yadav’,” Rajput told India Today.

Rajput didn’t lose hope, and his next call was made to none other than SRH team mentor VVS Laxman.

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“I told him if he did not want to pick him straightaway, he should at least just keep a watch on Rashid. I told him that I had seen him bowl. My argument was he was quickish and could be a force (to reckon with) in India in April and May. Laxman kept following him in our I Cup and other T20 matches and ultimately picked him. He took a chance, and the rest is history. Today we regard Rashid as the best spinner in the T20 format,” he said.

Rajput also recalled one of the initial conversations with Rashid Khan where he stated his bowling pace increased while bowling to his brothers in the backyard.

“He told me he had so many brothers and in their backyard games, they used to play with a tennis ball with each other. He told me his brother would hit him when he bowled slow, so he started bowling quick. And he could always bat well.”

The former Afghan coach is pretty excited about their debut. However, he refuses to get intimidated by their results in the T20 format.

“Rashid is fearless. But Test cricket and T20 are different. There is no strike rate pressure in Test cricket and India have quality players against spin. But you never know. These spinners are coming in with confidence so one can’t take them lightly.

“But remember people couldn’t read Ajanta Mendis before he was ultimately found out. In Test cricket, over a period of time, batsmen will start reading him. So that will be a challenge for him as well,” he said.

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