Rashid Khan Creates History, Becomes First Cricketer In The World To Achieve Unprecedented High
Rashid Khan created history and achieved an unprecedented high during the 2026 T20 World Cup clash between Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi as the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-finalist aims to keep their diminishing hopes of making the Super 8 stage of the tournament alive after starting the tournament with two defeats in row after losses against New Zealand and South Africa.
Rashid won the toss and chose to bowl first in the must-win match for his team on Monday (February 16). He bowled an economical spell and gave away just 24 runs in four overs with one wicket to his name.
Rashid dismissed Muhammad Arfan with a ‘hit-wicket’ dismissal in the 17th over of the innings, which proved to be a major landmark in his career. The Afghanistan captain took the 700th T20 wicket of his career as a result of the freak dismissal. He is the first player in cricket’s history to take 700 scalps in the shortest format of the game.
Rashid already held the record for being the highest wicket-taker in the T20 format after overtaking Dwayne Bravo’s tally last year during the 2025 Indian Premier League. Sunil Narine is the only other spinner who has taken more than 600 scalps in the shortest format of the game.
Most Wickets In Men’s T20 Cricket
| Player | Wickets | Innings Bowled |
| Rashid Khan | 700 | 512 |
| Dwayne Bravo | 631 | 546 |
| Sunil Narine | 613 | 573 |
| Imran Tahir | 572 | 431 |
| Andre Russell | 508 | 521 |
| Shakib al Hasan | 507 | 461 |
Rashid is also the top wicket-taker in T20Is with 191 wickets for Afghanistan and will soon become the first player to take 200 wickets in the format at the international level. Elsewhere, he also has 158 wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in his career for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Gujarat Titans (GT). He has scalped 98 wickets in the Big Bash League (BBL), 44 in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), 36 wickets in the Hundred, 34 in the Vitality Blast, as well as 27 in the SA20.
While Rashid is the first to the 700 wicket mark in T20 Cricket, Bravo was the first to complete 300, 400, 500, and 600 wickets. Former Netherlands and Australian pacer Dirk Nannes had completed 100 and 200 scalps before anyone else.
