My mother wanted me to become a doctor: Rashid Khan

There have been instances where sportspersons have gone against the will of their family and chased their dreams and then there have been instances where situations have given birth to legends. Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan shares his story about how he never had plans of playing cricket and aspired to be a doctor instead. 

“I grew up in Afghanistan and Pakistan. When things were not good in Afghanistan, my family shifted to Pakistan. I mostly played cricket at home with my brothers,” he said while talking to ESPNCricinfo. 

“I never dreamed that I would be a cricketer. Yes, I was good at cricket at home, but I never had that in my mind - to be a cricketer, playing for Afghanistan, playing all around the world. I always had in my mind to be a doctor, which was the family's expectation as well, especially my mom’s,” he added. 

The right-handed cricketer revealed how he was first introduced to the game and what made him realise that he wanted to pursue it. One of my friends took me to a game on a Sunday. I didn't let my family know - I went without their permission. I scored 65 runs and I was like: "Oh, I love this game." That was the first time [I played] with a hard ball,” Rashid revealed. 

Rashid is now considered to be one of the finest cricketers of the modern era. In 284 T20 matches that he has played, Rashid has scalped more than 390 wickets during the course at an economy rate of a little over 6. 

He will now represent Afghanistan in the World T20. The Afghan team will play their first match against the number one ranked team of qualifying Group B in Sharjah on Monday.