Afghanistan is surely a comparatively new team in cricket but the way its players have excelled in various international tournaments, it is obviously not a weak team now. After playing first-ever international match in April 2009, Afghan cricketers have come stronger to get limelight at the world stage.
Be it batting, bowling or fielding, Afghanistan has some crucial players who have excelled in all these areas of cricket. Afghan players are part of almost all T20 leagues and have a great fan following due to their impressive play. Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, and Asghar Afghan are some of the crucial players from Afghanistan.
Talking about IPL, the tournament also has at least two Afghani players who have become an icon among fans to watch out for. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, who play in Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2019, are key players of the team providing breakthroughs at crucial moments.
Rashid Khan
Rashid is an all-rounder with his major strength in bowling. The right-hand leg spinner is part of Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in IPL 2019 as he was retained for a whopping 9 crore. Rashid has some great bowling skills, and his ability to bat and field becomes an added advantage.
On his way to become top ranked T20 bowler, Rashid has impressed fans all over the world. His ability to bag wickets and bowl dot balls helps a team a lot in the bowling zone. In IPL too, he has been amazing with his figures. He was the joint-second most wicket-taker in IPL 2018, helping SRH to reach the finals. He took 21 wickets in IPL 2018, and 17 in the previous edition, becoming a bowler which SRH cannot afford to drop in any match.
Rashid recently mentioned that he has 6 different bowling variations with 6 bowling actions, which clearly defines his bowling strength. In IPL 2019, he is again going great and is expected to come among top most wicket-takers.
Mohammad Nabi
Nabi is an all-rounder and very dependable player. He is a right-hand middle order batsman and off-spinner. He is also known for his economical bowling, which helps his IPL team SRH to halt opponent’s scoreboard. Due to his abilities with both bat and bowl, he was retained by SRH for Rs. 1 crore in IPL 2019 auction.
In a recent match against RCB, he took 4 wickets giving off just 11 runs which helped SRH to achieve second-biggest ever victory by margin of runs. Unlike Rashid Khan, however, Nabi still has to prove his worth for the team in IPL leagues. But his spell of 4/11 can be surely called as the start of his upcoming heroics in IPL.
