Caribbean Premier League debut. (Photo-Randy Bruooks/CPL T20 Via Getty Images)
The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025 began in a bang, where St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots made a brilliant start by defeating Antigua & Barbuda Falcons by 6 wickets. In this exciting match, everyone’s eyes rested on Afghanistan’s young spinner Waqar Salamkhil, who completely piled the batting of Antigua and Barbuda Falcons with his magical bowling. He was the hero of the victory of St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in this match.
Amazing of those who have not played international matches for 6 years
In the match, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots captain Jason Holder won the toss and decided to bowl first, which also proved to be correct. Antigua did not start well and her batsmen came under pressure in the initial overs. In such a situation, Waqar Salamkhil took the ball in the eighth over and sent Fabian Alan to the pavilion in his first over. After this, he destroyed Falcons’s batting by dismissing big names like Shakib Al Hasan, Imad Wasim and Odion Smith and the entire team was all out after scoring 121 runs in 17.1 overs. On the other hand, St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, chasing a target of 122 runs, won with 5 overs.
First match played at the age of 17
Salamkhil took 4 wickets for just 22 runs in his 4 overs and played an important role in his team’s victory. He was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for this great performance. Let me tell you, Waqar Salamkhil played his first international match for Afghanistan in the year 2019. He got a chance to debut in Tests, but it was also his only international match. In this match, he took a total of 4 wickets and could never make a place in the Afghanistan team again.
Waqar Salamkhil is just 23 years old. He stepped into international cricket at the age of 17. But since then he is struggling to make a place in the team. He has taken 102 wickets in 78 T20 matches so far. His long run-up, fast speed and accurate line-length becomes a challenge for the batsmen. Waqar Salamkhil left his mark in the first match of CPL 2025. In such a situation, he would like to continue his performance in the upcoming matches as well.
