Watch: Rashid Khan Reveals How Afghan Teammate Stole "Special Bat" Given To Him By Virat Kohli

There is little doubt that Virat Kohli is currently the unrivalled king of world cricket with the Indian captain leaving batting records in his wake. A man of high emotions and passion, Virat Kohli, more often than not, lets his bat do the talking in the middle, a significant change from his early years. Virat Kohli also seems to be quite generous with his bats, giving it away to many of his great rivals. The Team India skipper had created a lot of buzz when he was seen handing his bat to Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir during the World T20 in 2016. And now Afghanistan sensation Rashid Khan has revealed he got one too from Virat Kohli but much to the dismay of leg-spinner, it didn't stay in his possession for too long despite its seemingly magical abilities.

Speaking to cricket.com.au ahead of Afghanistan's opening World Cup 2019 clash against the mighty Australians, Rashid Khan spoke about his habit of collecting bats from some of the best players in the world.

"When you are (learning) the skills of batting, you need to have a good bat. I got a few from the players. I got one from Virat (Kohli), I got from Davey (David Warner), I got one from KL Rahul and those are special bats. That will help me to make some runs in the World Cup," said Rashid Khan.

However, when probed further into revealing details about the bat he got from Virat Kohli, Rashid Khan narrated the story of how and why it was stolen by none other than former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan.

"When I was batting with the bat against Ireland, I flicked one for four - I wanted to hit a boundary and it went for six. I was like 'what happened? That went for six? I was like 'there is something in the bat'. I loved the bat. It was like every ball I hit went for six. There was something special in that bat. As soon as I came to the pavillion, our previous captain Asghar Afghan, he came up to me and said, 'give me that bat' and I was like 'oh no'.

"He had already taken it out from my bag and put it in his own bag. That was a special bat, from a special player as well. He took that bat and I hope he doesn't do well with that and gives it back," said a smiling Rashid Khan.

Watch the entire interview here:

Afghan superstar Rashid Khan has a habit of collecting great players' bats, however, one has been stolen! He tells the story... pic.twitter.com/pj97NuunFP

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 1, 2019

Afghanistan's rise from associate-nation status to cricket's elite has been nothing short of a fairy tale.

The minnows witnessed a captaincy change two months before the start of the World Cup 2019, with little-known Gulbadin Naib named leader of the ODI side in place of Asghar Afghan, a move that did not go down well with some senior members of the team.

But the team has now settled to focus on their World Cup campaign but five-time champions, Australia, will start as overwhelming favourites in Bristol against an Afghanistan side only playing their second 50-over World Cup.

Topics mentioned in this article

Afghanistan India Cricket Team Australia Cricket Team Rashid Khan Virat Kohli Asghar Afghan World Cup 2019 Afghanistan vs Australia, Match 4 Cricket