IPL 2017 Player Auction: Historic day for Afghan Cricket as Rashid Khan Goes for Jaw-Dropping Rs 4 Crore

In a historic decision, when the BCCI decided to include five Afghanistan cricketers, it was equivocally hailed as one of the best things to happen for the development of cricket among the minnows. And much to delight of the cricketing fraternity history indeed was made at the IPL 2017 Player Auction as Mohammad Nabi became the first Afghanistan cricketer to join the IPL. The inclusion of five players from Afghanistan and one from United Arab Emirates (UAE) has added a new flavour to the auction.

In a recent interview Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi had stated that he along with his country would be glued to all sources of information on Monday to know if any of their players are picked by franchises in the IPL auction and it seems a lot of celebration are now due for the Afghans as he was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a base price of
Rs 30 lakh.

Nabi has proved himself on the international level as he is currently ranked 7th in ICC rankings for all-rounders in ODI cricket. He is one of ten players in the last two years who has scored more than 600 T20 runs and take over 60 wickets. Out Of the ten T20 bowlers who have sent down the most deliveries in the last two years, Nabi has the third-best economy rate behind Sunil Narine and Shahid Afridi. He was also the leading wicket-taker in the 2016 World T20.

However, the biggest surprise came with the bidding war for young 18-year-old Afghan leg spinner Rashid Khan, who also went to SRH for a whopping 4 crore. Rashid Khan can also bat a bit as he has the ability to tonk the ball around the park. For the defending champions it seems like the 18-year-old will lead the spin attack.

Rashid has represented Afghanistan in 21 T20Is. He has  scalped 31 wickets from 21 matches at 16.06 and an economy rate of 6.14. In all T20 he also has 47 wickets at 14.80 and boasts of an mpressive economy of 6.03.
His base price was Rs 50 Lakh but the bidding war with Mumbai Indians saw his stakes rise up dramatically. After Ryan ten Doeschate and Mohammad Nabi, Rashid became the third cricketer from an Associate Nation to get an IPL contract.

Courtesy : indianexpress