Rashid Khan bowled with an innovative diagonal run-up during the third ODI between Afghanistan and Bangladesh today (November 11).
Coming in to bowl the 23rd over from over the wicket, Rashid went to his bowling mark. However, the starting point of Rashid’s run-up was unusual, with him running across from around the wicket behind the non-striker’s stumps and in front of the umpire. He switched between running between the umpire and the stumps and starting from a more conventional position to the umpire's left through the over.
Rashid is not the first leg-spinner to employ a funky run-up. Rahul Chahar, who has represented India in white-ball internationals, has been seen doing it on multiple occasions.
Earlier in the day, Rashid got instant success after coming to bowl his first over. Towhid Hridoy (7) tried to play a fast-spinning full delivery — the kind one generally associates with Rashid — on the back foot, edging it to Gulbadin Naib at slip. Bangladesh were reduced to 72-4. Hridoy's dismissal was one of the three wickets that fell in quick succession after openers Tanzid Hasan (19) and Soumya Sarkar (24) stitched a 53-run stand at a decent rate.
Rashid finished with 1-40 off his 10 overs. Azmatullah Omarzai (4-37) was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers. For Bangladesh, Mahmudullah (98) fell agonisingly short of a century on the last ball of the innings, while Miraz scored a 119-ball 66 to take them to 244-8.
Watch Rashid Khan's unusual run-up here:
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
