How a break from cricket helped Rashid Khan rediscover his best

Afghanistan's bowling allrounder Rashid Khan says he committed a "mistake" by rushing back to play cricket just a few months after a back surgery that immediately followed the 2023 World Cup. The long-term impact, Rashid said, told on him during his last two IPL seasons for Gujarat Titans (GT), especially in 2025, his worst IPL ever.

Rashid conceded 33 sixes, the most by a bowler in a single IPL season, as batters both capped and uncapped dominated him. Post-surgery, Rashid's speed, the backbone of his bowling, depleted considerably, in addition to a loss of accuracy. However, after a two-month post-IPL break, Rashid has returned rejuvenated, and showed that on Tuesday in the opening contest of the Hundred 2025, with a match-wining 3 for 11 in defending champions Oval Invincibles' victory over London Spirit at Lord's.

In a chat with ESPNcricinfo organised by Red Bull, which unveiled the Afghanistan great as an ambassador on Saturday, Rashid said he had failed to grasp the advice the doctors had given him after his surgery.

"After IPL, I needed the kind of break where my body gets back to normal," Rashid said. "I worked a little bit on my strength. And especially coming back from back surgery, I hadn't had much time to rehab properly. That's where I did a bit of mistake to restart my cricket so quickly at that time. And I feel like I didn't let myself properly recover, and I pushed it a little bit at that time, and I can see the disadvantage of that now. But after IPL [2025], I felt like I needed that kind of two months off where I can just focus on my fitness.

"And when I came yesterday [on Tuesday], I felt so good, in a good rhythm, and the ball was coming nicely out of my hand, and [my] body was allowing me to go through. So these things matter a lot - sometimes you don't think about that a lot; you just try your best to push yourself. But I feel to be out of the game for some time and focus on my fitness - and also [focus] mentally and physically - that really played a huge role."

On a sluggish Lord's surface, Rashid bowled between 94 and 98kph, speeds he feels more comfortable with, and in control. The absence of zip in his deliveries, Rashid felt, was a key reason behind his failing to dictate terms in the last two IPL seasons.

"On Tuesday, I was bowling at 94-98 kph - that's my pace, [and the] speeds I am known to bowl at. I feel I was missing that before because my body was not allowing me to go through [my action] with that full energy. Last night, [against Spirit], when I came to bowl, I was getting that good feeling, and I was touching that speed with which I could put the batsman in trouble, and also not allow him much time to read from the surface."

Barely a few months after the back surgery, despite medical experts warning him to pay careful attention to his rehab, Rashid resumed playing, though mostly T20 cricket. He started with the series against Ireland in March 2024, followed by the IPL and the T20 World Cup, where he led Afghanistan into the semi-finals. Soon after, back and hamstring niggles surfaced, forcing Rashid to skip the BBL and PSL. In early January 2025, Rashid played the second Test against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, and finished as the Player of the Match, bowling 55 overs (27.3 in each innings) and picking up 11 wickets to enter the record books. But the toll exacted by those marathon spells was evident during the Champions Trophy, and then IPL 2025.

"When I came back to cricket after surgery, I was told not to rush back in the longer formats [Tests and ODIs] that quickly as that was not going to help me," Rashid said. "About eight to nine months after I had started to play post surgery, I bowled 65 [55] overs in the Bulawayo Test. That really pushed my back a little bit, and I felt it at that time. I shouldn't have been in whites [to play Tests].

"In T20s, it's fine - you can manage yourself - but for the longer formats, I was advised that you should be away from that format for some time. That is the kind of mistake I have made. But the team needed that. At that time, we had lost a few games in Test cricket, but that's something where I rushed myself a little bit, and I didn't give myself time and I felt it later on. Yes, I think I have done a mistake where my body was not allowing me that and I'm facing a problem. The thing is the stiffness in your back doesn't allow you to go with full rhythm."