Asia Cup 2022: Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the lethal spin pair of Afghanistan

Dubai, August 31: Afghanistan became the first team to qualify for the Asia Cup 2022 Super 4, and it was such a remarkable feat.

They were recently ravaged by an internal turmoil when Taliban took over the administration, and more often than not the team is based in overseas camps either in the UAE or in India.

Despite being a full member of the ICC since 2017, Afghanistan still do not get a more prominent place on the FTP, especially in the Test calendar.

It makes their international appearances relatively less than other teams. And they even do not have an organised domestic league except the sporadic Shpageeza T20 League.

But the Afghan stars try to compensate for that lack of exposure while playing in various T20 leagues across the world in India, Australia, West Indies and in Pakistan.

The Afghan players like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Zadran, Najeebulla Zadran, Mohamamd Nabi etc are a much sought after lot in T20 leagues around the globe.

Rashid is indeed the face of Afghanistan team, and their biggest super star. The leg-spinner commands so much respect from the opponents that they often do not try to score against him but rather see off him with minimum damage.

Made his Afghan debut in 2015 as a 17-year-old, Rashid has played 68 T20Is and has taken 115 wickets and his economy of 6.1 is just stupendous.

Rashid went through a rather lean phase when he failed to pick up a wicket in the the first 3 T20Is against Ireland last month but in the next 3 T20Is, including 2 in the Asia Cup 2022, Rashid has taken 6 wickets.

Even when he does not pick up wickets, Rashid ensures that runs are not taken off and that forces the opposition batters to go after other bowlers.

In that context, Mujeeb, all of 21, is a wonderful foil to Rashid. The spin twins showed the amount of damage they can do together in the Asia Cup 2022 match against Bangladesh on Tuesday (August 30).

Rashid and Mujeeb shared six wickets equally among them as Afghanistan shackled Bangladesh to a manageable total.

Both Rashid and Mujeeb possess an unending stream of variations that can keep even the best T20 batters guessing. The dismissal of Bangladesh veteran Shakib Al Hasan underlines this.

Shakib cut Mujeeb for a couple as the bowler bowled a length ball outside off. Mujeeb employed the carrom ball in the next delivery, and Shakib did not pick it up as he tried to give space to himself for a shot down the ground.

But the ball was quicker and fuller and Shakib was beaten completely as the ball clattered on to his timber.

“I would congratulate my team and the entire nation. My strength is to bowl with the new ball. I have played before in Sharjah. All my plan was to bowl wicket to wicket and that worked for me,” said Mujeeb in a post-match presentation.

Both Mujeeb and Shakib have immense role flexibility too. They can operate in the Power Plays, middle overs or towards the end.

Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi acknowledged this. “Everyone knows both Mujeeb and Rashid are world-class bowlers. They again showed their talent and ability. We plan to take early wickets to be ahead in the game and they execute our plans brilliantly,” said Nabi.

We have seen pace bowlers hunting in pairs — Ambrose and Walsh or Wasim and Waqar, or Lillee and Thomson or Lindwall and Miller, or in this era Bumrah and Shami.

Now, we might just be witnessing the rise of a lethal spin pair — Rashid and Mujeeb. They will thrill you not with pace or aggression but through bamboozling the opponents with clever moves like in a chess game.