Rashid Khan surpassed Dwayne Bravo to become the highest T20 wicket-taker. (SA20)
Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan climbed to the top of the wicket-taking charts in all T20 cricket on Sunday when he scalped his a record 632nd wicket in the format during the SA20 Qualifier 1 match for MI Cape Town against Pretoria Capitals.
Rashid dismissed Dunith Wellalage to surpass former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo’s tally of 631 wickets in 89 fewer innings in his 461st T20 match since making his format debut in a T20I for Afghanistan against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo in October 2015.
Of Rashid’s massive pile of wickets, 161 have come in the Afghanistan jersey, making him the second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is, only three behind the now-retired Tim Southee. Rashid holds the distinction of being the fastest bowler to reach 100 T20I wickets, having claimed the feat in only 53 matches in 2021.
Rashid’s career economy rate of 6.49 is the second-best among all T20 bowlers who have picked up at least 250 T20 wickets, save Sunil Narine (6.12). Rashid’s wickets have come at a strike rate below 17 with a career-best of 6/17 included among five five-wicket hauls.
Having played only 15 of his T20s at home in Afghanistan, Rashid’s wicket-taking prowess seems all the more bewildering. Between 2017 and 2024, Rashid has racked up at least 65 wickets every calendar year save 2020, including a record 96 in 60 matches in 2018. No other bowler has managed that feat more than twice. His economy has witnessed negligible fluctuation in this period, and his strike rate last year (13.6) for 66 scalps was the best in his career.
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