Afghanistan star Rashid Khan reveals he was nervous after being praised by India legend Sachin Tendulkar

Sudhir Gupta 18:29 29/05/2018
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  • Rashid Khan in action in the IPL. Image - IPL/Twitter.

    It is not every day that one receives glowing compliments from Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar. So when the batting great showered the highest of praises on Rashid Khan, it was only natural that the 19-year-old Afghanistan spinner would be in total awe.

    The leg-spin prodigy put in some sensational bowling performances for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the recently concluded IPL and claimed 21 wickets for the side in their runners-up campaign. Following his heroics, Rashid had been described as the best bowler in the T20 format by Tendulkar on Twitter.

    “Always felt @rashidkhan_19 was a good spinner but now I wouldn’t hesitate in saying he is the best spinner in the world in this format. Mind you, he’s got some batting skills as well. Great guy,” the batting maestro had written on his post.

    In an interaction with the Times of India, the Afghanistan youngster described how nervous he felt upon receiving news of the Tendulkar’s praise.

    “When I got into the bus, a friend sent me a screenshot of the tweet and I was shocked to see it. I was thinking for like 1-2 hours before I could eventually reply. I really didn’t know what to write, but finally I replied,” Rashid said.

    “The whole of Afghanistan seemed to have seen that tweet. Tendulkar is very, very famous there and everyone was surprised that he had such high praise for me. Statements like these motivate young players and infuse positive energy,” he added.

    The highly talented leg-spinner dismissed the very batsmen in world cricket during the tournament and considers some of those dismissals as the best of his career so far.

    “Getting rid of Virat (Kohli), AB (de Villiers) and MS Dhoni was very satisfying. In fact, I consider them the best wickets of my career so far. They are really good players of spin bowling so getting them out made it memorable for me,” the youngster stated.

    For now, the Afghan man is gearing up for his country’s historic first Test against India which will get underway at Bengaluru on June 14.

    “It’s a big match for us as playing Tests is a dream for every cricket-playing nation. All of us who are selected for that match will consider ourselves lucky. After all, we will be making history. And, it doesn’t get bigger than the fact that we will be playing India in India,” Rashid said about his expectations for the Test.

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