In the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has been able to impress one and all with his consistent performances. The 19-year-old bowler from a war-ravaged Afghanistan has witnessed a journey to become a star player of the IPL finalist team has been nothing short of a fairytale.
Rashid has been smashing records and he has received love and respect from the cricket fans throughout India. IPL is a tournament where people start trolling Indian cricketers too if they play in the opponent team. It is hard being to be an overseas player and yet been able to win the heart of millions of people is a difficult task to be asking for.
WATCH – Rashid Khan’s game-changing spell
But that is what exactly happening with the latest superstar on the block. As the tournament progressed and Rashid kept on performing consistently, Twitter got flooded with Indian fans requesting Sushma Swaraj, the Minister of External Affairs to provide Indian citizenship to Rashid.
As funny as that sounds, a whole lot of people went on to tweet to Sushma Swaraj directly, posing the same request. Keeping up with the humor, the Indian minister answered back to all the tweets with one of her own. She tweeted to Rashid and said, “I have seen all the tweets. Citizenship matters are dealt with by Ministry of Home Affairs.”
It was a sporting gesture on behalf of Swaraj to participate in a friendly banter. But numerous fans appealing for this on social media was way too high, and rightfully so.
In the second qualifier match played on Friday, Rashid almost singlehandedly took his team, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to the IPL 2018 final with his all-round show, beating KKR by 14 runs. First, he played a whirlwind knock of 34* off 10, and then took 3 wickets for 19, taking his total tally of 2018 to 21 and setting up a final clash with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani was also keenly following the second qualifier of the IPL 2018. He praised the Afghan wonder for his all-around skills and probably also took a dig at India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. After Rashid’s mind-boggling performance, fans on Twitter asked the young leggie to be given Indian citizenship. Here’s President Ghani’s tweet:
Afghans take absolute pride in our hero, Rashid Khan. 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
— Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) May 25, 2018
Here are some of the many tweets of fans, trying to include Rashid Khan in the Indian team at all costs.
@SushmaSwaraj madam .. Rashid Khan Ko indian citizenship de do please #KKRvsSRH
— Hemant S Pant (@BeingHinDuzZ2) May 25, 2018
Please Indian government give Indian citizenship to this guy. #Rashid pic.twitter.com/N7xyW9zJ3N
— Mask ishan (@Mr_LoLwa) May 25, 2018
Dear @narendramodi and @SushmaSwaraj, can we give Rashid Khan an Indian Citizenship??? #KKRvsSRH
— Shareq Inamdar (@itssrq) May 25, 2018
Rashid Khan, you beauty ! 😍
Modi ji aadhar card banwao iss bande ka 💕#SRHvKKR— Ravee_😺 (@raveeshah39) May 25, 2018
India should give citizenship to Rashid Khan. Serious. Best case scenario for 2019 World Cup. #SRHvRCB
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) May 7, 2018
Not many Khans who are in India deserve it, but this Rashid Khan should be offered Indian citizenship.#SRHvCSK
— Dr. Moriarty (@DesiOptimystic) May 22, 2018
Ma'am @SushmaSwaraj, what we need to do to get Indian citizenship for Rashid Khan.#KKRvSRH
— Abhay (@im_abhay_singh) May 25, 2018
What's the process to get Rashid Khan an Indian citizenship? #AbsolutelyGenius #Best#SRH #OrangeArmy #Qualifier2 #SRHvKKR #IPL2018Playoffs @SunRisers
— I ❤ AP 🚲🕉 (@thota_J) May 25, 2018
@SushmaSwaraj Is there any way, Rashid Khan can be given Indian citizenship? We need him in our XI @rashidkhan_19 #SRHvsKKR
— jeevan goud (@Jeevan_33) May 25, 2018
Hello @SushmaSwaraj Ma'am please grant permanent visa and citizenship to Rashid Khan. #SRHvCSK #IPL2018
— Rishabh (@jokebazz) May 22, 2018
