Afghanistan’s young sensation Rashid Khan single-handedly took his team, Sunrisers Hyderabad, to the finals of the IPL 2018 by his all-around performance against Kolkata Knight Riders in the second qualifier played at the Eden Gardens on Friday night.
Rashid is undoubtedly the most popular Afghanistan cricketer in the world and one of the biggest ambassadors for the game from the country. He scored unbeaten 34 off just 10 balls and picked 3/19, as SRH defeated KKR by 14 runs and moved into the finals.
SRH will now face CSK in the final IPL encounter at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
However, Indian cricket crazy fans have become a huge follower of the teenager and they took to Twitter to request Minister of External Affairs of India, Sushma Swaraj to grant Rashid Khan Indian citizenship.
Here are some tweets from the fans:
@SushmaSwaraj madam .. Rashid Khan Ko indian citizenship de do please #KKRvsSRH
— oye_Hemant (@Hemantpant29) May 25, 2018
What's the process to get Rashid Khan an Indian citizenship? #AbsolutelyGenius #Best#SRH #OrangeArmy #Qualifier2 #SRHvKKR #IPL2018Playoffs @SunRisers
— T H O T A (@thota_J) May 25, 2018
Please Indian government give Indian citizenship to this guy. #Rashid pic.twitter.com/N7xyW9zJ3N
— Mask 🎭 (@Mr_LoLwa) May 25, 2018
Ma'am @SushmaSwaraj, what we need to do to get Indian citizenship for Rashid Khan.#KKRvSRH
— A (@Resistance_ohm) May 25, 2018
@SushmaSwaraj Is there any way, Rashid Khan can be given Indian citizenship? We need him in our XI @rashidkhan_19 #SRHvsKKR
— jeevan goud (@Jeevan_33) May 25, 2018
Hello @SushmaSwaraj Ma'am please grant permanent visa and citizenship to Rashid Khan. #SRHvCSK #IPL2018
— Rishabh (@jokebazz) May 22, 2018
I think Rashid Khan could discover a new planet in the solar system or a new element in the periodic table today
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 25, 2018
Sushma Swaraj also took notice of all the tweets and responded in her usual witty manner saying, “I have seen all the tweets. Citizenship matters are dealt with by Ministry of Home affairs.”
Though she deleted the tweet a while later, but here is a screenshot of her reply.
She had previously acknowledged the increasing power of Afghanistan in cricket arena and when they received Test status, had said to PTI, “The fact that Afghanistan attained the status of a Test- playing cricketing nation is a testament to the indomitable spirit of the people of Afghanistan to not let the forces of death and destruction prevail.”
