Afghanistan's Rashid Khan was offered Indian citizenship by 'high-ranking official'; here's how he responded
In Rashid Khan: From Streets to Stardom, set to be released on Monday, Rashid told author Mohammad Haand Jafar that both India and Australia made such offers.
Rashid Khan was approached by two countries, including India, with offers of citizenship and a chance to represent them, but he turned them down and chose to continue playing for Afghanistan, according to a new book. In Rashid Khan: From Streets to Stardom , set to be released on Monday, Rashid told author Mohammad Haand Jafar that both India and Australia 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 either," Khan is 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 in the IPL for Gujarat Titans, 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 situation in your country (Afghanistan) is very bad. Come stay in India.
We will give you Indian documents, live here, play cricket here. ’ I was surprised by what he was saying and didn't know how to respond. But I smiled and said, ‘Thank you very much.