Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s premier spinner, will take an extended hiatus from Test cricket to maintain his workload. Rashid has been suffering with back pain problems since having surgery last year.
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan cricket’s poster boy, will not play Test cricket in the foreseeable future to rest his back after undergoing surgery last year. According to a source from the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Rashid and team management agreed to take a break from the longest format due to back difficulties.
Earlier this week, he was not named to the provisional team for the one-off Test against New Zealand in Greater Noida on September 9. Rashid was out of action for four months after having back surgery during the ODI World Cup in India in October-November. He was a part of the more recent T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean, where he led Afghanistan to the semifinals.The 25-year-old recently participated in three games in the Shpageeza T20 tournament in Kabul in a span of three days, capturing six wickets overall.After the surgery, Rashid was supposed to increase his workload gradually. Another aspect of the idea was to not play the longer format for the next six months to a year.
“He would have to bowl continuously from one end during tests, and his back is not prepared for that kind of strain. The insider stated, “He ought to be available for the ODI series against South Africa next month.”
Afghanistan rarely gets to play the five-day format against elite nations like New Zealand, but Rashid has played five Tests, 103 ODIs, and 93 T20Is for the country.
