IPL 2017 Auction: Rashid Khan Creates Landmark For Afghan Cricket, Goes To Sunrisers Hyderabad For Rs 4 Crore

Rashid Khan made a huge mark for cricket in Afghanistan as he was purchased for IPL 10 by SunRisers Hyderabad for Rs 4 crore. The leg-spinner, while quite in the reckoning in the run-up to the auction, would still be delighted by the kind of money he generated, something that would be a huge boost to cricket in his country. The 18-year-old would be playing his first Indian Premier League.

Rashid was the second player from his country to go into the IPL rolls, after Mohammad Nabi too went to the Hyderabad franchise. Unlike Rashid however, he did not make much in terms of financial progress, going at his base price or 30 lakh.

HISTORY MADE at #IPLAuction - Mohammad Nabi becomes the first Afghanistan cricketer to join VIVO IPL. He will play for @SunRisers pic.twitter.com/Y4sanD86Ev

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 20, 2017

VIDEO: Afghanistan's 18-year-old leggie Rashid Khan gets INR 4 Crore. He will play for @SunRisers https://t.co/4GjjY0a8b1 #IPLauction

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) February 20, 2017

However, no one was expecting Rashid to be in such demand, as he was tagged at a base price of Rs. 50 lakh. But the franchises went after him in right earnest and he was eventually sold for eight times his base price.

Rashid Khan Arman, born in Nangarhar, made his One-day International and T20 International debuts within eight days of each other, when Afghanistan took on Zimbabwe in an away series in 2015.

He has 31 wickets from 18 ODIs, with a best of 4/21. In T20 Internationals, he has and identical 31 wickets, but from 21 matches.

His inclusion and the amount of money spent on him is an indicator that Afghan cricket has an entire field to play with. If this kind of numbers keep coming up, it is only a matter of time before they are among the big guns for good.