5 big T20 records held by Rashid Khan

Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan, widely rated to be among the best spinners in the world, has made lovers of cricket stop and watch whenever he has been in action. His quick and loopy action, in which he comes through quicker than batters expect him, makes him a challenging proposition to deal with.

While his non-bowling arm plays a vital role in his releasing the ball, it is also the pivoting of his landing foot that allows him to rotate his torso quickly and confuse the batter with his alignment. The batter then also has to deal with the fact that most of his balls come out from the back of his hand, rather like a wrong 'un.

However, Rashid is equally good with conventional leg-breaks and flippers. With the bat in hand, too, the 26-year-old is a big threat when he walks out lower down the order, especially in T20Is. In the shortest format of the game in international cricket, Rashid boasts a strike rate of 126 with the bat.

He has picked up 161 wickets in the 96 T20Is he has played so far in his career, including eight four-wicket hauls and two five-wicket hauls. Rashid bowls at an average of 13 and an economy rate of 6.08 in T20Is, which makes him one of the best in the world, if not the best.

In this listicle, we take a look at five big records held by Rashid Khan in T20 cricket.

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#5 Most wickets taken - bowled

Rashid Khan heads the list of most wickets taken as bowled in the world in T20 cricket. In the 96 matches that he has played so far, the Afghan has picked up a total of 161 wickets, out of which 51 have been the result of bowled dismissals. This translates to about 31 percent of the total wickets he has picked up.

Rashid is comfortably ahead of his closest competitor among ICC permanent members, with Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga coming next with 39 bowled out of the 171 wickets he has picked up so far. Uganda's Bilal Hassan, retired Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga, and Hong Kong's Ehsan Khan stand between Rashid and Hasaranga on this list.

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#4 Most wickets taken - LBW

While Rashid holds the record for the most number of wickets taken as bowled, he is also on top of the list of wickets taken as LBW. He is known for his accurate lines and lengths and rarely gives the opposition batters any room to free their arms. This means that he keeps it stump-to-stump on most occasions.

Out of the 161 wickets he has picked up in T20Is, 40 have come leg before wicket. This translates to 24.84 percent of his total wickets, and one can say without any hesitation that it is a phenomenal number, especially for a slow bowler in a format that is predominantly known to favor batters with their meaty willows.

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#3 Fastest to 100 T20I wickets

Rashid Khan of Afghanistan (Image Source: Getty Images)

Rashid Khan was the fastest to reach 100 T20I wickets in the world when he achieved this feat against Pakistan in Dubai in the ICC T20 World Cup in October 2021. The leg-spinner reached this milestone in just his 53rd T20I.

Nepal leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane comes second on this list after he reached the milestone in 54 matches, just one behind Rashid. Sri Lanka's Hasaranga and Pakistan's Haris Rauf follow the two leggies on top of this list by achieving this feat in 63 and 71 T20I matches, respectively.

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#2 Most times getting a particular batter out

A distinctive record that Rashid holds in this format of the game is getting a particular batter out the most number of times. He achieved the feat against Zimbabwe's Ryan Burl, whom he has dismissed on seven occasions out of the 12 times the duo have faced off against each other.

It is safe to say, therefore, that the southpaw does not like to see Rashid bowl. Bangladesh's Shoriful Islam comes second on this list, after having got New Zealand's Finn Allen out six out of the nine times the two have played each other. Rashid averages 16 against Burl and has even got him out for a duck once.

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#1 Highest wicket-taker in T20s

Rashid recently became the highest-ever wicket-taker in T20 cricket as a whole when he picked up 2-33 for the MI Cape Town against Paarl Royals in the SA20. Rashid overtook West Indian legend Dwayne Bravo to reach the pinnacle of this list - he now has 633 scalps to his name.

Bravo comes second on this list now with 631 wickets in T20s while fellow West Indian Sunil Narine is third with 574 scalps. He is followed by South Africa’s Imran Tahir with 533 wickets and the now-retired Shakib Al Hasan with 492 wickets.