Virat Kohli, Babar Azam and Kane Williamson are similar, difficult bowling to them, says Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan, who earned his Afghanistan cap at the age of 17, established himself as a world-class spin bowler with his brilliant bowling performances since his debut in October 2015. The 23-year-old is known for troubling his opponent batsman with his googlies, and has been a regular name in the Afghanistan squad. 

Ahead of his second T20 World Cup campaign, Rashid Khan stated that it is very difficult bowling to Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, and Kane Williamson. The 23-year-old further added that Kohli is more dangerous than the power-hitters as he is equally good at finding boundaries, singles and doubles. 

“The batsmen who try to hit you in the gap, like Virat Kohli, are pretty hard to bowl to. As soon as he finds out that this ball is a bit off length or a loose ball, he is going to hit you in the gap.” 

“The hard-hitters might just block you and might want to get off strike or just play a dot ball. But Kohli will either get two or a boundary. Kane Williamson and Babar Azam are similar. These three batsmen are harder to bowl against because you have to be accurate against them - bowl the perfect line and length,” the Afghan leg-spinner told ESPNCricinfo. 

Rashid Khan has so far clinched 34 wickets in Tests, 140 in ODIs, and 95 in T20Is. The Afghanistan spinner has been very impressive in the T20s with 392 scalps at an economy rate of 6.35. 

Speaking on his initial days as a spin bowler, Rashid Khan stated that he used to watch Anil Kumble and Shahid Afridi on TV, and learned a lot from them. 

“[Bowling-wise], definitely Shahid Afridi and Anil Kumble. Even at home, playing against my brothers, I was bowling quicker leg-spin [like Afridi and Kumble]. I loved watching them on TV. I still watch videos [of them] on YouTube – there are so many things I learned from them and still do,” he stated.

The 23-year-old has scored five fifties in ODIs, and a lone fifty in Test cricket. Rashid Khan reckoned that he always loved watching Sachin Tendulkar, and wanted to adopt the former Indian opener's style of stroke play.

“Batting-wise, I always loved watching Sachin Tendulkar. [Back then] I wasn’t the kind of player with a mindset of hitting sixes. I loved playing down the ground, singles, boundaries. I don’t know how and why I changed my mind to now mainly focusing on hitting sixes,” Rashid told Cricket Monthly.

Rashid Khan is an integral part of the Afghanistan T20 World Cup squad, and the Mohammad Nabi-led side will start thier campaign against the qualifier from Group B on October 25 in Sharjah.