Last Updated on September 12, 2022, 6:56 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Rashid Khan, Leg Spinner of the Afghanistan Cricket team is returning to the Caribbean Premier League (CPL 2022). He will be representing the defending champions of the CPL Title, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, who have signed him as a like-for-like replacement for Wanindu Hasaranga.
Hasaranga represented the Sri Lanka cricket team in the UAE for the Asia Cup final which was held on Sunday, September 11, 2022. Consequently, he is unavailable for the entire CPL 2022 season. Meanwhile, Maheesh Theekshana, who the Trinbago Knight Riders had picked to play from their side in this year’s tournament, is still waiting for a NOC from Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC).
Rashid returns to the CPL 2022 after missing the last season due to national commitments. Patriots will be the third team he represents, after Guyana Amazon Warriors and Barbados Royals (formerly Barbados Tridents).
Rashid has had success with both the franchises, he was the highest wicket-taker for Tridents in the 2020 edition of the CPL, with 11 strikes in ten games at an economy rate of 6.85. In the year 2017, he became the first person to bag a hat-trick in the Caribbean Premier League, for Amazon Warriors who had defeated the Jamaica Tallawahs in the match.
Patriots’ assistant coach and strategy coach, Malolan Rangarajan, was happy with Rashid’s inclusion which he made apparent via his Twitter, “Missing Wanindu, [but] can’t complain about the replacement.”
Patriots could really use a player as accomplished as Rashid. The team has so far won only one game out of the five that they have played in CPL 2022. Even the win against the Amazon Warriors came in unlikely circumstances, where they had to make history by becoming the first team in CPL to score more than 20 runs in the last over to win the match.
Rashid will now lead a spin attack that includes Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya, Afghanistan’s Izharulhaq Naveed and local boys Jaden Carmichael and Jon-Russ Jaggesar.
Recently, Rashid was seen in action at the Asia Cup was the highest wicket taker of Afghanistan.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
