Teen-sensation Rashid Khan has England in a spin, but red-tapism leaves Afghan spinner's county participation in balance

Courtesy: Screengrab (YouTube)

New Delhi: Afghan teen sensation Rashid Khan is one of the hottest properties in world cricket today. The 18-year-old leg spinner showed his potential in the Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year, then bamboozled West Indies with unpickable deliveries in the Caribbean recently while world's top teams were busy in the ICC Champions Trophy in England.

And rightly, he has become a target for English county sides, but the chances of him playing in the reputed circuit are close to impossible, thanks to prevalent red-tapism.

Like in other sports, for a foreign player to ply his trade in England, his national team needs to compete in 'elite level', which in case of cricket, is Test. Afghanistan and Ireland were granted the Test status last Thursday, and it should help Rashid's chances.

Post elevation to Test rank, at least two sides have reportedly made steps to sign the talented spinner, but their efforts were undermined by the fact that, the player in question should have played at least a Test match in order to qualify for County cricket.

For the record, Khan earlier this month produced the fourth best bowling figures ever in One-Day Internationals, taking seven for 18 to destroy the West Indies batting line-up in Saint Lucia. He has taken 63 in 29 ODI's and 42 in 27 Twenty20 International matches.

And he is ranked higher than any of the English bowlers in both the International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI and T20 rankings.