KARACHI: Rashid Khan’s journey to becoming a billionaire cricket superstar began in the most desperate circumstances – as a refugee in the Pakistani city of Peshawar.
But as a popular franchise cricketer and leg-spinner, the 25-year-old has amassed wealth beyond what he could have imagined when his family fled the war in Afghanistan.
He earned an estimated $1.8 million in his latest contract in the lucrative Indian Premier League and has homes in Dubai and Sharjah.
The Afghanistan captain is currently just two wins away from winning the T20 World Cup title.
To the coaches who taught him cricket during his formative years in Pakistan, he was always destined for greatness.
“Rashid has a gifted right hand and can bowl at a world-class level,” Rashid’s sports teacher Ali Hoti told AFP by telephone from Peshawar.
“His focus, dedication and talent are exemplary and he now serves as a role model beyond the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
Rashid and his family – he is one of 11 siblings – have followed a well-trodden path from the turmoil of war in Afghanistan to the relative safety of neighbouring Pakistan.
His parents ran a tyre company in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
The young Rashid also received his education in his adopted hometown, studying computer science at Islamia University in Peshawar.
“During his cricket trials, I realised Rashid had great talent so I enrolled him in a computer science course. He did well and that’s how his career began in 2013,” Hoti, 39, added.
A modest and quiet teenager, Rashid quickly made his mark, scoring a hundred in a match and then leading his team to a local university final.
“Rashid was a better batsman than a bowler but later he mastered the art of leg-breaking and his concentration made him very successful,” Hoti said.
“His best quality was his understanding of the game situation.”
Rashid’s breakthrough in the international game came when former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, Inzamam-ul-Haq and fast bowler Kabir Khan were coaches of the Afghanistan team in its early days.
“In 2014, the Afghanistan team came to Peshawar to play a few matches and Rashid’s performances caught attention and the rest is history,” Hoti added.
Since making his debut in 2015, Rashid has played around 200 One-Day Internationals and T20 matches.
He has also played five Test matches for Afghanistan, but his debut in 2018 was forgettable with figures of 2-154 in an innings defeat to India.
Yet he became the youngest ever Test captain at just 20 years old and has taken a total of 369 wickets in his international career so far.
As a franchise T20 cricketer, he led Gujarat Titans to an IPL title in 2023 and Lahore Qalandars to back-to-back Pakistan Super League titles in 2022 and 2023.
Qalandars chief operating officer Sameen Rana praised Rashid as a “team man”.
“To me, Rashid is not only humble but also the most selfless person. His work ethic is exceptional and he never hesitates to give his all for the team. For him, the team comes first,” Rana said.
In the ongoing T20 World Cup, Afghanistan beat New Zealand in the first round to qualify for the Super Eight, before recording a stunning win over former champions Australia.
Rashid has figures of 4-17 against New Zealand and 1-23 against Australia.
However, his best performance came in a crucial match against Bangladesh, when he took 4-23 and 19 not out off just 10 balls to help Afghanistan reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time ever.
His aggressive captaincy showed no mercy on his own players, even going so far as to throw his bat at Karim Janat after he prevented them from scoring a second run in Monday’s tight win over Bangladesh.
