In the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup in India, the young Afghanistan leg-spinner, Rashid Khan earned a name for himself with some beautiful tricks and taking some important wickets for his team. His performance was enough for him to earn some lucrative contracts from various T20 franchise contracts. But, the big one happened in 2017, when he was bought by Sunrisers Hyderabad for the IPL season.

Rashid Khan earned a name for himself in his maiden IPL season and has scaled several heights in world cricket since then. In a recent interaction, the 22-year-old cricketer looked back at his debut season in the IPL and called it the turning point in his career. In 2021, he has picked up 85 wickets in 69 matches with an economy of 6.23.

WATCH – Indian Women Reach Taunton From Bristol For The Next ODI

Talking about his career before the IPL contract during a chat on Cricbuzz, Rashid Khan said, “there wasn’t a lot of exposure back then, there was hardly any international cricket against the big teams, and it was only during the World Cup or Asia Cup that we got a chance.”

He further added, “In 2017, when I came to the IPL, my cricket changed a lot, be it fitness, skills, or just the mental side of things. I didn’t have much idea about what the big players thought of me. At SRH, I got to speak with Tom Moody, VVS Laxman, and Muttiah Muralitharan. Once I got to know what they thought of me, it felt good. It’s an important aspect, it really motivated me.”

Rashid Khan then talked about the presence of big cricketers around him and how it made him a better cricketer. He mentioned that the senior cricketers of SRH team at the time, the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, David Warner, Yuvraj Singh, Kane Williamson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, helped him a lot with his game.

ALSO READ: Aakash Chopra Excluded Virat Kohli In His World Test XI Against New Zealand

Elaborating the same, Rashid Khan said, “I became a different bowler after that IPL. I played well against the big players and performed well, which made me believe in my skills.”