Would love to see Afghan batters get a chance: Rashid Khan ahead of BBL draft

Spinners from Afghanistan have been hot picks in franchise leagues over the past five years since T20 cricket took off, but ahead of Sunday’s Big Bash League draft, Rashid Khan has asserted that, this time around, he would love to see the Afghanistan batters get a gig.

Whether it be Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad,  Zahir Khan or Rashid Khan himself, the BBL, over the years, has seen many an Afghanistan spinner thrive and make headlines, but little to no batters from the country have shone in the competition. Nabi, in fact, has been the only Afghanistan cricketer to showcase his batting prowess in the BBL.

Afghanistan has been churning out quality T20 hitters of late, and Rashid believes that the Afghan batters will ‘show to the world how good they are’ should they be given an opportunity.

"I would be happier to see the batsmen rather than the bowlers," he told cricket.com.au ahead of the BBL draft.

"We have so many bowlers playing all around the world, but I would be so happy if our batsman took that responsibility to play in all the leagues.

"That might help them improve their cricket and it’d be a very good thing for Afghanistan cricket.

"Once they get that opportunity, they have performed really well in the past when some players have played in the PSL (Pakistan Super League).

"If they get that proper opportunity, they can show to the world how good they are."

Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmanullah Gurbaz are two batters who on multiple occasions have showcased their prowess at the highest level, but neither player has featured in the BBL. The duo, this time around, have enrolled themselves in the draft, and Rashid believes the pair will impress should they be drafted by one of the sides.

"They are very destructive batters, especially in the short format," said Rashid of Gurbaz and Zazai.

"They've done so well so far and if they get the opportunity, I'm pretty sure they're going to deliver their best."

In all, a total of 27 Afghanistan players are either eligible for retention or have enrolled themselves in the draft, and Rashid hoped for a ton of those players to get picked by teams so that they’ll have the platform to shine.

"I'm so excited we're going to see the Afghan players in the draft and hopefully they will be picked in different teams where they can express their talent, get the opportunity to learn more and get better and better," said Rashid.