Rashid Khan Considers Himself Unlucky to Have Not Bowled to Sachin Tendulkar

Published - 07 Jun 2018, 05:28 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:27 AM

Rashid Khan, Afghanistan
Photo Credit: BCCI/IPL.

There is no doubt about the fact Afghanistan star Rashid Khan is the best bowler in the shortest format of the game. His fast leg-breaks and googlies have been quite exceptional and have made opposition batsmen literally dance to his tune.

Rashid was at his exceptional best during the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) and was the pick of the bowlers for runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) led by Kane Williamson.

In the ongoing Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh, he has been remarkable with the ball and has bagged the Player of the Match Award on both occasions.

Moreover, due to his skills, even legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar hailed him as the best bowler in the shortest format.

During an exclusive interview with Cricket Soccer, Rashid revealed a lot of aspects about his game and how he felt when he received the motivational message from none other than Tendulkar.

Furthermore, Rashid was asked whether he read the tweet of Tendulkar and if so how did he react in reply.

In reply, Rashid was really surprised that the interviewer asked him whether he read it or not.

“It is surprising that you asked me, ‘have you seen’. I think there will be no one [who is a cricket lover] who haven’t seen that tweet,” Rashid said.

“When I finished my match [in Kolkata] and came to bus and opened my mobile, I got the message from my friend. He sent me screenshot [of the tweet]. I just saw that he [Sachin] tweeted about me. I think that is the best thing that has happened to me,” he stated.

“I think that encouraged me a lot, that really motivated me. Then I was thinking for two-three hours, what to reply to him, how to say thank you. Because I don’t’ think that such a player will come again to this world. So, getting a tweet from him regarding the best leg-spinner is very special,” he added.

Image Courtesy: Getty Images

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I would have loved to bowl at Sachin says, Rashid

Despite being one of the greatest bowlers of the modern time, he missed the opportunity to bowl to Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the greatest batsman of all time.

When asked how disappointed he is to not bowl at him, Rashid said that he would surely have to bowl at Tendulkar.

“I would love to bowl to him. I think taking his wicket is something else but you know just bowling to him is a dream of every player, every bowler. So, I should consider myself a little bit unlucky not to bowl to him,” he maintained.

Afghanistan is set to play their maiden Test match against India from June 14.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli won’t be available and Ajinkya Rahane will lead the side in his absence. When asked whether he would rue the missed opportunity to bowl to Virat in the longest format, he stated it would have been a challenge to bowl at him in Tests.

Kohli is the best batsman right now, says Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan. Photo by: Deepak Malik /SPORTZPICS for BCCI

“I would love to bowl to him [Kohli] in Test cricket as well. He is the best batsman right now in the world. [But] I think there are lots of other [world-class] batsmen in the [Indian] line-up. KL Rahul is there. I don’t think Rohit Sharma is there, but you know Shikhar Dhawan is there, Ajinkya Rahane, [Cheteshwar] Pujara is there. So, would love to bowl to them as well. It will be a very exciting match,” he stated.

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