Veteran Indian cricket team spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was all praise for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) after they registered a historic victory over New Zealand in the second T20I encounter on Saturday.
He pointed out how franchise cricket has slowly been decreasing the gulf between top sides and associate nations before mentioning Rashid Khan and Afghanistan's meteoric rise on the global stage. “UAE beating New Zealand is a big achievement and it's also showing us what franchisee cricket has succeeded in doing.
There is hope for the next generation cricketer coming from countries that aren't mainstream test nations and that's good news for the game.
When @rashidkhan_19 broke into the IPL, Afghans weren't a feared cricketing nation at world cups but now no one can refuse that fact.