Afghanistan’s spin wizard Rashid Khan is competitive even when nothing is at stake.
Not just in international matches or World Cup warm-ups, but even in casual practice sessions and friendly contests.
“I don’t like to be lazy in any game,” he told The Telegraph Online. “If you’re deep into it, you’re enjoying it. That’s where the competitiveness comes from.”
For one of the world’s greatest T20 bowlers, intensity is not something reserved for match day. It is a habit, built ball by ball. Khan treats practice sessions as competitive matches. Anything less, he believes, would break the rhythm.
“If I don’t put that competitiveness in practice and suddenly bring it into the game, it’s a massive change,” he explained.
It is this relentlessness that has made Khan one of the most influential cricketers Afghanistan has produced. But his impact goes far beyond 22 yards. For a generation of Afghan youth, Rashid Khan represents possibility.
“It’s a massive impact,” he said, describing how Afghanistan’s success in international cricket has reshaped aspirations back home. His IPL debut in 2017 altered perceptions and has eventually inspired several Afghan players to participate in global leagues, particularly the IPL.
It gave youngsters hope that if we work hard and we are talented, we can make it anywhere in the world.
Rashid
That hope has travelled fast. Cricket, which was once a pastime in the nation, has become an ambition. Khan said, “The mindset has changed.” Young players now grow up believing they can represent Afghanistan and be seen on the world stage doing so. “There is so much talent in Afghanistan,” he added, “and now there is belief.”
Afghanistan have largely hosted international matches away from home, but Khan believes that home games would be transformative. “When people come to the stadium and see their national heroes playing, it inspires the next generation,” he said. “They think, ‘I want to be there one day. I want people to come and support me.’”
For him, a home game goes far beyond cricket. It is about visibility, imagination and inspiration. “That’s how you inspire young people,” he said. “They see it, they feel it, and they start believing in it.”
After reaching the semi-finals in the previous edition of the T20 World Cup, the national team prepares for another T20 World Cup campaign.
Khan sounded grounded and optimistic. The preparations, he said, have been intense, and the expectations, real.
Rashid Khan sips on a can of Red Bull Red Bull
Khan’s long-standing association with Red Bull, he said, reflected the way he approaches the game itself, with energy, discipline and an appetite to keep pushing limits. From club cricket days to the world’s biggest stages, Red Bull can consumption habits have remained unchanged.
For Rashid Khan, the fuel has always been belief. Red Bull
For Rashid Khan, the fuel has always been belief, and the impact continues to travel far beyond the pitch.