Afghans painted in red, green and black cheered from the sidelines of the Champions Trophy cricket in Lahore and from in front of their televisions in Kabul on Wednesday, brushing aside calls for England to boycott the match.
The 26-year-old MI Cape Town spinner went past Dwayne Bravo's tally of 631 wickets when he bowled Dunith Wellalage in the SA20 qualifier 1 against Paarl Royals on Tuesday.
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan took six wickets in a row to put Afghanistan on the verge of victory in the series-deciding second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Sunday.
The 26-year-old missed Afghanistan's most recent Test matches on medical advice to heal a back injury for which he underwent surgery earlier this year.
Both cricketers took to X to urge the Taliban to reconsider their stance and restore Afghan girls' right to education, enabling them to contribute to the nation’s development.
Three of Rashid's brothers also tied the knot on the same night.
Aiden Markram's calm innings helped South Africa avoid suffering a series clean sweep by Afghanistan with a seven-wicket victory in the third one-day international in Sharjah on Sunday.
The win sealed the series for Afghanistan, who had registered a first ever triumph over South Africa in the format after winning the opening ODI on Wednesday by six wickets.
Afghanistan registered another emphatic victory over South Africa on Friday, beating them by 177 runs in the second one-day international to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Sharjah.
Next summer's Australian Big Bash League could feature its first-ever players from Bangladesh and Afghanistan after Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques said that teams would be 'silly' to not look into talents like Mustafizur Rahman and Rashid Khan.
Afghanistan's leg-spinner Rashid Khan says the entire country watches Indian Premier League (IPL) and the support of the people back home gives him energy to perform better in the cash-rich T20 tournament.
Australian David Warner has labelled Afghanistan's Rashid Khan "a superstar in the making" after the Sunrisers Hyderabad leg-spinner produced a stunning performance against the Gujarat Lions on Sunday night.
