He's 19 and from a country at war for decades, but Rashid Khan of Afghanistan is the toast of the cricket world with his leg-spin wizardry.
From Thursday, the world's top-ranked Twenty20 bowler will be in action as Afghanistan play their first ever Test match, the gruelling five-day format beloved of purists, against the mighty India in Bangalore.
Khan started playing with a tennis ball in the remote and poor eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar as one of 12 children, and says he learned the tricks of the trade by himself.
"Nobody taught me... leg-spin and wrong ones," he told the Times of India recently. "I just observed Shahid Afridi and Anil Kumble," he said, greats of Pakistan and India respectively.
Khan began his professional career in Afghanistan's domestic league where he caught the eye of national selectors.
At 17, he made his international debut against Zimbabwe.
Since then he has gone from strength to strength, becoming the fastest to reach 100 one-day international wickets during the World Cup qualifiers in March with his darting leg-spinners and vicious googlies.
This year he was the star of the Indian Premier League, the cash-rich extravaganza in short-format Twenty20 cricket, helping the Sunrisers Hyderabad reach the final and more than justifying his $1.41-million price tag.
Khan's well-disguised "doosra" ball did for stars from Virat Kohli, the India captain, to batting maestro Mahendra Singh Dhoni, helping to propel the youngster to the top of the International Cricket Council's T20 bowling rankings.
"I wouldn't hesitate in saying he is the best spinner in the world in this format... (and) he's got some batting skills as well," Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar said on Twitter.
Australian spin legend Shane Warne said Khan got him "excited", while Kumble was also full of praise for the 19-year-old and his 17-year-old teammate Mujeeb ur Rahman.
"It's fantastic to see two young Afghanistan spinners bamboozle world batsmen," Kumble, the third-highest wicket-taker of all time and now a commentator, told AFP.
"Both Rashid and Mujeeb are extremely talented and if they get it right they are certainly capable of testing... Indian or any batsmen," the former leg-spinner added.
The duo have become a potent weapon for Afghanistan, with Mohammad Nabi adding edge to a spin-heavy squad picked for their historic Test against India this week.
Last week, they completed an impressive 3-0 ODI whitewash over Bangladesh.
However, Kumble said switching from T20s to the five-day format would be a challenge for the teenagers.
"It will be interesting to see how they go, because bowling four overs and bowling to get wickets in a Test match is totally different," the former India captain said.
Khan, who is also an agile fielder and a useful lower-order batsman, said that fitness has always been key since he made his ODI debut.
"In the last one year, I have tried to stay fit, and improve upon my fitness, which has changed everything," he said.
"I have managed to contribute in the field, with ball and bat."
Teenage Afghan googly wizard wows cricketing world
Teenage Afghan googly wizard wows cricketing world
Guardiola hails Man City’s ‘massive’ win over Newcastle
- Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Pep Guardiola labelled Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Newcastle on Saturday as a “massive” moment in the Premier League title race.
Guardiola’s second-placed side closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to just two points with their tense victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Nico O’Reilly put City ahead in the first half and restored the lead before half-time after Lewis Hall had equalized.
City weren’t at their best in the second half, but they held on to pile pressure on spluttering Arsenal, who travel to Tottenham for the north London derby on Sunday.
Guardiola knew it was essential to make Arsenal sweat.
“Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable,” he said.
“It’s coming in best part of the season. Every single game will be similar to today.”
After finishing without a trophy last season, City are back in the hunt for the seventh English title of Guardiola’s reign.
They will have a game in hand on Arsenal after this weekend and are guaranteed to win the title if they win their last 11 league matches.
Guardiola has embarked on an expensive overhaul of City’s squad in the last 12 months, shedding aging stars like Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson and Kyle Walker and bringing in the likes of Marc Guehi, Antoine Semenyo and Rayan Cherki.
The Spaniard is well aware that his new generation largely lacks the experience of winning under the pressure of a title race, which made their gritty success against Newcastle even more meaningful.
“70 percent of the players have never been in that situation, and I don’t play. So we have to live it, they know that every game will be like this,” he said.
“Especially at home, with five home games left. Today was the best crowd of the year, it was unbelievable with our people, really proud to be manager of these incredible people and fans.
“Of course in terms of points it’s important, but we have to improve to have chance to compete until the end. Now we deserve three more days off. Then another battle in Leeds.”
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly for praise after the young England midfielder’s pair of clinical finishes showed he won’t be affected by the strain of chasing Arsenal.
“Nico give us in the middle that physicality that we need. He now plays in his position,” he said.
“He has always played that, he is so complete and so young. I am really pleased the academy produced these incredible players, Nico, Phil (Foden), Rico (Lewis).”
