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.