New Delhi, Apr 10:
Advised by doctors to stay away from red-ball cricket following a back surgery, star Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan has hinted that he might skip the one-off Test against India in Mullanpur in June.
While the prospect of playing a Test in India is enticing, Rashid maintained his priority remains staying fit for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa.
The 27-year-old, who underwent underwent lower-back surgery following the 2023 ODI World Cup, revealed that doctors have cautioned him against the traditional format. Despite that, he featured in a Test against Zimbabwe last year, bowling 54 overs and picking up 11 wickets.
“Very tough question. It’s a little difficult in red ball, because that was the first thing which was told to me by the doctor, ‘You have to stay away from red ball.’ But I still played a Test against Zimbabwe,” Rashid told reporters after starring in Gujarat Titan’s one-run win over Delhi Capitals in the IPL on Thursday.
“He (doctor) said ‘if you don’t want to play cricket, you keep playing the red ball format’,” he said.
Since Afghanistan gained Test status in 2017, they have played 12 matches, with Rashid featuring in only six.
“ODIs, yes, I enjoy, and I’m in a good shape to play ODIs for a longer period of time for Afghanistan, but just to be careful with how many I play, and not to put too much load on myself, to be careful if I want to play for a longer period of time,” he added.
When reminded of the game against India post the IPL, Rashid remained non-committal: “You’re asking me very tough questions. I think I already played one before (in 2025), so I will just take it easy, get myself ready for the World Cup.
“Imagine something happens to my back in that Test match, I can’t play 100 Test matches. If you’re playing one Test in a year, I can’t play for 100 years, so there is no target in Test cricket,” he said.