Afghan teenager Rashid earns praise after superb IPL show

Afghan teenager Rashid earns praise
after superb IPL show

Afghan spin sensation Rashid Khan saw
cricket fans in India pleading for him to be
awarded citizenship after the 19-year-old
single-handedly carried Sunrisers Hyderabad
into Sunday's Indian Premier League final.
Rashid smashed an unbeaten 34 off 10 balls
to lift Hyderabad's innings to 174 for seven
before leaving the Kolkata Knight Riders
spellbound with his fast leg-spinners, claiming
three for 19 in his four overs.
If that was not enough, Rashid was also
involved in a run out and then took two
catches while fielding close to the boundary
rope in the last over as his team won by 14
runs and advanced to the final against
Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai's Wankhede
Stadium.
His performance left many impressed fans in
the cricket-mad nation demanding on social
media that he was awarded Indian citizenship,
though the comments got a swift response
from Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani.
"Afghans take absolute pride in our hero,
Rashid Khan," he said on Twitter tagging
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "I am
also thankful to our Indian friends for giving
our players a platform to show their skills.
"Rashid reminds us whats best about Afg. He
remains an asset to the cricketing world. No
we are not giving him away @narendramodi."
Hyderabad paid 40 million rupees ($590,580)
at last year's auction to land the leg-spinner
from Afghanistan, where cricket is highly
popular but sporting facilities are pitifully
inadequate after decades of war.
An intense bidding war erupted for his
services in the auction this year before
Hyderabad exercised their right-to-match
option for a staggering 90 million rupees
($1.33 million).
He has made rapid strides since making his
international debut in October 2015 as a 17-
year-old, in February becoming the youngest
to top the International Cricket Council's
rankings for bowlers in the Twenty20 and 50-
overs format.
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