Rashid Khan remains non-committal about featuring in Afghanistan’s one-off Test against India that is scheduled to be played in Mullanpur in June after the Indian Premier League (IPL). The star spinner said that he was advised by his doctor to stay away from red-ball cricket to prolong his career in the sport and that, along with the fact that Afghanistan don’t play in the World Test Championship, has resulted in him having to put Test cricket on the backburner.
“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 in the on Thursday.
Rashid had been diagnosed with a back injury before the 2023 World Cup and since then, he has had to ration his appearances in Test cricket. Rashid last played in a Test against Zimbabwe in January 2025. Afghanistan won that match by 72 runs and Rashid was player of the match, taking a total off 11 wickets across the two innings. He bowled a total of 55 overs in that match, something that left his doctor “shocked”.
“I bowled 67 (55) overs, which was crazy,” said Rashid about the match in Bulawayo. “The doctor told me like, ‘if you don’t want to play cricket, you keep playing the red-ball cricket’ because it’s not going to support you. You won’t be [there] for longer to play for Afghanistan and I still went and I still played and when he knew I bowled 67 [55] overs in one innings, in two innings, he was shocked. He was ‘no, you can’t do that to yourself’. I will think about that.”
“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.
Since becoming a Test-playing nation in 2017, Afghanistan have played 12 matches in the format and Rashid has featured in just six. He has taken 45 wickets, which is tied with former South Africa pacer Vernon Philander for second by a player in the history of Test cricket after playing six matches.
Rashid said that while his immediate focus is on the IPL, his main target remains staying fit for the 2027 ODI World Cup. He said that he couldn’t risk injuring himself along the way by playing the Test against India. Rashid also said that there is a lack of a real target in Test cricket with Afghanistan playing as infrequently as they are and not being in the World Test Championship.
“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. And there is no target in Test cricket,” he said.
