Afghanistan's Rashid Khan reveals he once got citizenship offers from India and Australia: ‘I told them…’

Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan recently revealed that he had got offers from India and Australia in order to switch countries and gain citizenship.

However, Rashid Khan declined both those offers and decided to remain loyal to Afghanistan and its cricket team.

The details of this topic are discussed in the book In Rashid Khan: From Streets to Stardom, written by author Mohammad Haand Jafar. "I received such offers (citizenship and playing) from both Australia and India.

"But I told them, ‘If I don’t play for my country, I won’t play for any other country either," Rashid said in the book, as per news agency PTI.

“I went over and greeted him. We started talking, and he said: ‘The situation in your country (Afghanistan) is very bad. Come stay in India. We will give you Indian documents, live here, play cricket here.’ I was surprised by what he was saying and didn't know how to respond. But I smiled and said, ‘Thank you very much. I am playing for my country, Afghanistan’," Rashid stated.

The book also goes on to explain another incident during IPL 2018, when Rashid was playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). During a match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rashid had scored 34 runs from 10 balls and took three wickets in what came in a match-winning cause.

Fans in India then took to social media, calling for Rashid to be given Indian citizenship. They even tagged Sushma Swaraj, the then External Affairs Minister, in their posts. Swaraj replied , saying: “I saw all your tweets. But citizenship matters are dealt with by the Ministry of Home Affairs.”

In response, former Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani clarified by saying that Rashid Khan is a matter of national pride for Afghanistan. Rashid was pleased with Ghani's words and vowed to continue giving his best for Afghanistan.

The book tracks Rashid Khan's cricketing journey from Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar to international fame. Rashid, who made his international debut in October 2015, has played six Tests, 117 ODIs and 115 T20Is. 

He has taken 45, 210 and 193 wickets in the three formats, respectively. Rashid Khan has led Afghanistan in 57 matches, winning 28 and losing as many matches.