Rashid Khan is on the brink of achieving a feat that no other player has ever done before: 700 T20 wickets. The impending landmark – he is just four wickets away – had him in jovial spirits during his press conference on the eve of Afghanistan’s opening clash of the 2026 T20 World Cup, against New Zealand in Chennai.
“Like I only played nine-ten years of international cricket overall, and then to be the leading wicket-taker is something more than a dream for me. T20 cricket came… I don’t know around 2004-05, we had players playing a lot, but for me to achieve that would be something very special.
“But I never counted my wickets. I only knew about it in the media: okay, I have reached 400, 500, 600, but I really didn’t think about it much. I only tried my best, every single day, I have to keep performing well for the team and I have to pick up wickets. I want to bowl in a tough situation where the team needs me, and that made me focused… Seven hundred wickets is not something small – getting there needs a lot of time and hard work and I’m blessed. I’m happy to reach that milestone and hopefully can make it to 7000.”
Rashid is only 27 years old, and is primed to smash more T20 records, but he has well and truly inspired the next generation of Afghanistan bowlers to take up the arduous, fascinating art of spin and conquer the world.
Afghanistan’s batting resources, though, are meager as compared to their spin pool. While Darwish Rasooli has risen through the domestic system and made the cut to the T20 World Cup side, Rashid said Afghanistan need to expand their domestic structure if they are to produce more quality batters.