An Oddsworth Opinion
What Rashid Khan's 200th T20I wicket is really worth
Rashid Khan's name ran under two headlines on the same day. One made him the first man to 200 wickets in men's T20Is, the other said Afghanistan had sacked him as T20 captain after the World Cup exit.
The milestone is being read as proof that he is the best T20 bowler alive, and the sacking as an insult. Our ratings, built on every men's T20 competition, go most of the way with the first half: they have him as the third-best T20 bowler in the world, worth about 6 runs a match more than an average bowler.
Is he still the bowler he was?
Yes, at a slightly higher price. Over the last two years he has taken 129 wickets in men's T20s at an average of 21.6, against 24.62 for bowlers across the format. That is dearer than the 18.8 of his whole career since his debut in 2015, though still a long way the right side of everyone else.
The wickets still arrive in clumps. In the Hundred in late July he went wicketless against Southern Brave and London Spirit, then took 5 for 17 for MI London against Manchester Super Giants in early August. In September he returned 0 for 34, 3 for 36 and 1 for 43 in three T20Is against India, and on 27 October he took 2 for 20 against Zimbabwe at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
1.4 a match in his career
The results under his captaincy
India beat Afghanistan three times in September, by seven wickets, seven wickets and 127 runs, and Nepal beat them by five wickets a week later. Our ratings put Afghanistan ninth of the twelve men's T20 sides they rank, with the third-best bowler in the world inside the eleven. Whatever the selectors' reasons, a side carrying a bowler that good should not be losing to Nepal, and the captain's own wickets were never going to hide that.
- LNew ZealandLost by 5 wickets v New Zealand, 2026-02-08
- TSouth AfricaTied v South Africa, 2026-02-11
- WUnited Arab EmiratesWon by 5 wickets v United Arab Emirates, 2026-02-16
- WCanadaWon by 82 runs v Canada, 2026-02-19
- LIndiaLost by 7 wickets v India, 2026-09-13
- LIndiaLost by 7 wickets v India, 2026-09-15
- LIndiaLost by 127 runs v India, 2026-09-17
- WJapanWon by 48 runs v Japan, 2026-09-24
- LNepalLost by 5 wickets v Nepal, 2026-09-25
- WZimbabweWon by 37 runs v Zimbabwe, 2026-10-27
What the 200 is worth
Two bowlers sit above him in our ratings, so the milestone does not make him the best in the world this year. It marks a bowler who, eleven years on from his debut, has 737 wickets across every T20 he has played and still sits third of the 147 men's T20 bowlers we rate.
Afghanistan were entitled to want a new voice after that World Cup. The third T20I against Zimbabwe on Sunday, where our forecast gives them a 76% chance, will show whether a new captain can change results the old one's wickets could not. One headline was about the captain. The other was about the bowler, and that one still reads well.