Rashid Khan remains Afghanistan’s original spin king, but Mujeeb Ur Rahman has emerged from his shadow as a rising star to make an instant impact at the Twenty20 World Cup.
The 20-year-old bamboozled the opposition batsmen with his mystery spin on Monday to return T20 best figures of 5-20 in Afghanistan's 130-run rout of Scotland in Sharjah.
Mujeeb bowls off spin, leg spin and the googly with equal guile and has bagged 30 wickets in 20 matches in the shortest format since his debut as a 16-year-old in February 2018.
“Congratulations to our nation and it's my first player of the match in a World Cup,” Mujeeb, who played his first ever match in the T20 World Cup, said to his countrymen who have been cheering their team under the new Taliban regime.
“The people supporting us here gave me a lot of positive energy. Fans have been supporting us and that’s one reason we’ve played well.”
Afghanistan cricket has overcome tough odds including the possibility of being banned from the tournament if the women's game was discontinued by the Taliban.
The players though have set aside the turmoil to focus on the T20 World Cup with skipper Mohammad Nabi saying we are well "prepared".
Mujeeb, who hails from a humble family in the Khost city of the war-torn region, rattled Scotland's top and middle order, taking three wickets in his first over including two in successive deliveries.
