Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan made cricket history on February 16, 2026. He became the first bowler to ever take 700 wickets in T20s. He reached the mark during a big T20 World Cup game against the United Arab Emirates at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Rashid Khan's total comes from a mix of international games, domestic leagues, and franchise cricket. This tally puts the leg-spinner in a league of his own.
Rashid Khan Hits 700 Wickets in Delhi
The record-breaking moment happened when Muhammad Arfan was hit wicket in a strange accident. Arfan had only faced two balls before knocking his own stumps. Rashid Khan ended his four overs with great figures of 1/24. He kept the pressure on the UAE batters throughout the middle of the innings.
Breaking Down the Numbers
The gap between the Afghan star and everyone else is huge. It is still growing, too, since he remains in top shape. Retired West Indies great Dwayne Bravo is in second place with 631 wickets. Sunil Narine is right behind him with 613 wickets from about the same number of games. For active international players, Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman is far back with 412 wickets. This shows just how long and how well Rashid has played at the top level.
In the T20 World Cups, Rashid Khan now has 41 wickets. That makes him the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament's history. He is still chasing the legend Shakib Al Hasan, who holds the record with 50 wickets. At the same time, Rashid Khan has to stay ahead of a fast-climbing Adam Zampa.
Match Highlights
The game itself was full of drama. Afghanistan won a close five-wicket victory to keep their Super 8 hopes alive. They really needed the win after losing earlier in the tournament. Afghanistan won the toss and chose to bowl first. At the start, the Afghan bowlers had a hard time stopping the UAE batters. The UAE put up a solid total of 160/9.
Sohaib Khan led the way for the UAE with a great 68 off 48 balls. Alishan Sharafu helped out with a quick 40. Azmatullah Omarzai was the best bowler for Afghanistan. He took a career-best 4/15, tearing through the lower order at the end of the innings.
Afghanistan felt the heat early in the chase when Rahmanullah Gurbaz got out for a duck on the second ball. Ibrahim Zadran kept things steady with a calm 53. But as the game got down to the last three overs, Afghanistan needed boundaries fast.
Azmatullah Omarzai finished off a perfect day by hitting 40 not out from just 21 balls. He hit the winning four with four balls left. This win gives the Afghan team a lot of confidence as they head to Chennai for their last group game against Canada.
