Rashid Khan celebrated aggressively in the middle.
Rashid Khan celebrated aggressively after dismissing Glenn Phillips in the T20 World Cup 2026 fixture between New Zealand and Afghanistan in Chennai. Usually, he doesn’t look as animated, but he couldn’t hold himself back this time and even used expletives to give the batter a send-off.
Rashid Khan bowled a fuller-length delivery on the stumps, to which Phillips went for an aggressive drive through the cover region. However, he couldn’t get the connection, and his stumps were rattled in a flash, as Afghanistan earned a big wicket against the run of play.
As the dismissal happened, Rashid initially did his trademark celebration by running towards the wicketkeeper and fist-bumping, but the celebration soon turned aggressive. He shouted ‘F**k off’ at Phillips’ face and was mighty frustrated for unknown reasons.
Fortunately for Rashid and Afghanistan, the Kiwi batter didn’t react and went back to the pavilion without saying anything, as the game progressed. Still, this was a surprising reaction from the Afghan captain, especially considering that both players play for the same team, Gujarat Titans (GT), in IPL and know each other quite well.
There’s no confirmation of what led to Rashid Khan’s rather violent celebration in the middle, but the event that transpired in his previous over. In his opening over, Phillips put him under pressure straight away by hitting a boundary and a six each and taking 14 runs off the set.
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That put New Zealand in the driver’s seat during the chase, and Rashid had a point to prove in his next over. So, when he dismissed the same batter who had earlier taken him apart in his next over, it probably made him express himself aggressively, which can happen in the heat of the moment.
Historically, Phillips has had the upper hand against Rashid in T20s, striking at 152.94 and hitting seven boundaries in 34 deliveries. This was the first time the superstar bowler had dismissed him, and he didn’t miss the moment to let the batter know it.
Unfortunately, Rashid Khan couldn’t help his team win, and his own bowling figures of 4-0-36-1 were largely unimpressive. New Zealand eventually won the contest by five wickets and 13 balls to spare to kick off the T20 World Cup 2026 on a winning note.
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