Rashid Khans Bulletproof Life: Unable to Play in His Own Country

The Afghan cricket team has quickly made a name for itself on the international stage. However, their star players still cannot play cricket freely in their own country. Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan faces this harsh reality firsthand.
Afghanistan has stunned the cricketing world by defeating strong teams in both the ODI and T20 World Cups. Yet, in their 16-year careers, Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan have never had the opportunity to play international cricket on home soil. Speaking on a podcast with Kevin Pietersen about life in his country, Rashid Khan said,"I can’t walk on the streets in Afghanistan. I have a bulletproof car."
When Pietersen asked why he needed a bulletproof car, the Afghan leg-spinner explained,"I use a bulletproof car for safety reasons. You wouldn’t want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is normal in Afghanistan. Everyone uses it."
In 2021, after the withdrawal of US and NATO forces, the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan. Over the past four years, Rashid Khan has openly criticized the Taliban government on social media, especially regarding women’s education and rights. Under such circumstances, playing cricket in war-torn Afghanistan became nearly impossible for him. He told Pietersen,"I couldn’t go outside. There was no permission to play cricket. Playing for Afghanistan was the biggest dream of my life."
What was once impossible is now a reality—Rashid Khan is dominating the international cricket arena. His leg-spin and googlies continue to baffle some of the world’s best batsmen. In T20 cricket, he has taken 685 wickets in 504 matches at an economy rate of 6.58.
However, despite his achievements, he has still not played an international match in Afghanistan wearing the national jersey.