Pakistan pay tribute to Rashid Khan’s late brother during Tri-series

Afghanistan are currently competing in the T20I Tri-series in Sharjah, but their captain, Rashid Khan, is playing through personal grief after the passing of his elder brother, Haji Abdul Halim Shinwari, last week.

Following the first match of the series between Afghanistan and Pakistan on August 29, 2025, Pakistan players were seen paying tribute to Rashid’s late brother. The video of that gesture went viral on social media.

It wasn’t just Pakistan players who offered condolences. Rashid’s teammates and former players also paid tribute. Ibrahim Zadran and former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan both expressed their sorrow on social media.

On X (formerly Twitter), Zadran wrote: "Saddened to hear about the passing of Rashid Khan's elder brother Haji Abdul Halim. An elder brother is like a father to the family. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. My heartfelt condolences to @rashidkhan_19 and his family."

Asghar Afghan also shared: "It is with deep sorrow that I learned of the passing of the elder brother of @rashidkhan_19 (Haji Abdul Halim Shinwari). May Allah grant him the highest ranks of Paradise (Jannat al-Firdaus) and bestow beautiful patience upon their esteemed family. Ameen."

On the field, Afghanistan’s start in the tri-series has been disappointing. They suffered a 39-run defeat against Pakistan. Batting first, Pakistan posted 182/7 in 20 overs, led by captain Salman Ali Agha’s unbeaten 53 off 36 balls.

In reply, Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 38 off 27, while skipper Rashid Khan fought hard with a quickfire 39 off 16. However, it wasn’t enough as Afghanistan were bowled out for 143 in 19.5 overs. Haris Rauf starred with the ball, claiming four wickets.

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rashid reflected on the loss of momentum in the middle overs. “We lost so many wickets (in the overs between 11-15) and that did not give us the momentum (towards the end). If we had a couple of good overs between overs 11-16, we could have chased it. That is what T20s is about - you cannot lose momentum and once you do, it is tough (to recover). (How to arrest such collapses) At such times, you cannot play risky shots. You can play your shots but you have to take a bit of time. You can take singles and rotate strike, and that keeps the pressure off you. We had a maiden over with two wickets. Four balls, four singles (instead), the momentum could have been different. Rotating strike is key.”

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