According to a new book, Rashid Khan was offered citizenship and the chance to represent India by two countries, but he turned them down and chose to continue playing for Afghanistan.i Rashid Khan: From the streets to stardomReleased on Monday, Rashid told writer Mohammad Hand Jaffer that both India and Australia had made such offers.“I received such offers (citizenship and playing) from both Australia and India. But I told them, ‘If I don’t play for my country, I won’t play for any other country,'” Khan was quoted as saying in the book, news agency PTI reported.While he did not go into details about the Australian offer, the 27-year-old described the Indian approach during the 2023 IPL season.Rashid, who plays for Gujarat Titans in the IPL, said a team official told him that “a high-ranking official from the Indian Cricket Board” wanted to meet him.“I went over and greeted him. We started talking, and he said: ‘The conditions in your country (Afghanistan) are very bad. Come and live in India. We will give you Indian documents, stay here, play cricket here.’ I wondered what he was saying and didn’t know how to respond. But I smiled and said, ‘Thank you very much. I am playing for my country Afghanistan,” Khan said.Rashid’s position regarding the representation of Afghanistan has been revealed before.As mentioned in the book, during the 2018 IPL, playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Kolkata Knight Riders, he produced an all-round performance, scoring 34 runs off 10 balls and taking three wickets.This performance prompted social media posts in India asking the government to grant him citizenship, with users tagging the then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.Responding to these posts, Swaraj tweeted: “I have seen all your tweets. But citizenship matters are dealt with by Home Ministry.”The issue also drew a reaction from former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who said Rashid was a matter of national pride and would not be given to any other country.Rashid later thanked him and said that he would continue to represent Afghanistan.The book follows Rashid’s journey from Nangarhar to international cricket. It details how he missed Afghanistan’s under-19 trials before becoming one of the country’s leading players and later being named the ICC Player of the Decade in 2020.
