Rashid Khan and Babar Azam are both masters of their own craft. However, the leg-spinner seems to overpower the stylish batter, whenever the two stars meet on field.
Rashid Khan is arguably the best among the leg-spinners around the world with batsmen declaring him a hard nut to crack, while Babar Azam is no different, ranked as the top T20 batter. It is always a hyped contest when the best batter and the top spinner come eye to eye, however, stats prove that Rashid Khan has got the upper hand in this face-off.
In the short format of which both Babar and Rashid are considered specialists, Rashid Khan has been a trouble for Babar Azam.
The Pakistan skipper has faced 48 deliveries by the Afghan star, managing 59 runs. However, in 5 T20 innings when Babar faced Rashid, the leg-spinner got him out on all 5 occasions. Babar Azam is the second most frequent victim of Rashid Khan’s lethal bowling, following Chris Gayle who lost his wicket to Rashid Khan 6 times. Babar Azam has a below par average of 11.8 against the Afghan leg-spinner, while his overall average in T20 format is above 45. Moreover, the star batsman has hit 8 fours off Rashid’s bowling, although he yet has to smash him for a six.
Although, there is no denying Babar Azam’s excellence in the art of batting, Rashid Khan has the honor of continuously deceiving the best batsman. Currently, Babar Azam is the skipper of Karachi Kings in PSL 7 while Rashid Khan is featuring as a main bowler for Lahore Qalandars.
Here’s a list of batsmen dismissed most often by Rashid Khan in T20 cricket:
| Batsman | Innings | Dismissals | 6s | 4s | Balls | Runs | Average |
| Chris Gayle | 12 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 69 | 108 | 18.00 |
| Babar Azam | 5 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 48 | 59 | 11.80 |
| Ryan Burl | 7 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 46 | 62 | 15.50 |
