Rashid Khan, one of the busiest cricketers around, will give the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL 2021) a skip due to his commitments with the Afghanistan team.

A few months ago, when the world of cricket was still reeling from the coronavirus pandemic with lockdowns in place, Rashid uploaded an Instagram story that revealed he had taken as many as 100 Covid-19 tests. It revealed the intense calendar the Afghan spinner had, who has made it a habit of hopping on flights for various T20 leagues around the world, besides turning out for his international team.

In the last year alone, he played ten games in the CPL before immediately flying down to the UAE, where he took part in the Indian Premier League for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He turned out for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League Down Under before cutting the tourney short to turn out for Afghanistan against Ireland. An outing in the Pakistan Super League followed, which was cut short as he played the series against Zimbabwe before taking part in this year’s Indian Premier League.

The player is now gearing up for the remainder of the PSL, before flying to England to participate in the T20 Blast for Sussex Sharks and the Hundred, where he will turn out for Trent Rockets.

If his team manages to reach the finals, Rashid will be in action till August 21 but could leave the tournament midway as Afghanistan are slated to play Sri Lanka in early August, according to the FTP program. They are also scheduled to play Pakistan in the first week of September, which means that he would have to leave the CPL mid-way if he had not pulled out this year.

Rashid was released by Barbados Tridents ahead of the 2021 player’s drafts that ended this week. Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi will skip the tournament as well due to Afghanistan duties.

Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match awards, player interviews, analysis and much more.