Rashid Khan becomes leading wicket-taker in men’s T20s

KARACHI: Afghanistan’s star spinner Rashid Khan on Tuesday, rose to a pinnacle as he became the leading wicket-taker in the history of men’s T20s, surpassing West Indies’ legendary all-rounder Dwayne Bravo.

Rashid achieved the milestone while representing MI Cape Town in the Qualifier 1 of SA20 against Paarl Royals, where he picked up two wickets for 33 runs in his four overs.

He was level with Bravo at the commencement of the aforementioned fixture and soon moved ahead by dismissing Sri Lanka’s Dunith Wellalage in the 10th over of the Royals’ innings.

Rashid further solidified his lead by sending India’s wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik packing in the 17th over.

The leg-spinner has now taken 633 wickets in 457 innings, two ahead of Bravo’s tally of 631 dismissals, for which he conceded 546 innings.

Most wickets in Men's T20s

• Rashid Khan: 633 wickets

• Dwayne Bravo: 631 wickets

• Sunil Narine: 574 wickets

• Imran Tahir: 531 wickets

• Shakib Al Hasan: 492 wickets

After his side’s convincing 39-run victory, which propelled them to the SA20 final, Rashid Khan said it was a proud moment for him as an Afghanistani and termed it a great honour to surpass ‘one of the best’ Bravo.

"It's a great achievement," Rashid told the host broadcaster after his team secured victory.

"I never thought about it, if you asked 10 years before this if I would get there. It's a proud feeling to be from Afghanistan and to be at that level where you top the table. DJ [Bravo] is one of the best T20 bowlers. It's a great honour and I'm looking forward to continuing."