Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has been a revelation ever since making his IPL debut for Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2017. A key member of the squad that reached the IPL final last season, Rashid is quickly closing in on the milestone of 50 wickets in the tournament and will get a go at it against defending champions Chennai Super Kings on Tuesday. Speaking exclusively to Hindustan Times, the leggy spoke about his and SRH’s performance this season, dependence of the team on openers David Warner & Jonny Bairstow and the big opportunity Afghanistan have at the ICC World Cup. Here are excerpts from the conversation.
Q) How would you rate your performance in IPL so far?
I think it has been good. I have been unlucky so far in terms of picking up wickets but my spells have been economical and I think I am doing my job for the team. In T20 cricket, economy is also crucial and that is very important for me. The team is back to winning ways and I hope we will pick momentum at the right time.
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Q) As a leg spinner what do you rely on to dismiss a batsman?
My biggest focus is to bowl dot balls, it helps to create pressure on the batsman. Once that is done I look for a moment when I could attack the batsman. Once the batsman gets defensive it is difficult for him to attack and that is when a bowler has a chance to pick up a wicket.
Q) Will you have the same strategy during the World Cup? The pitches in England might not be as slow and helpful, what will you do then?
{{/usCountry}}Q) Will you have the same strategy during the World Cup? The pitches in England might not be as slow and helpful, what will you do then?
{{/usCountry}}Nowadays there isn’t a lot of difference in the way batsmen approach an innings in ODIs and T20s. You can see teams scoring in excess of 350 regularly, so the momentum and pace remains more or less the same. Batsmen are always looking to score runs and the advent of T20 cricket means batsmen don’t defend even in Test cricket and that means bowlers always have a chance.
As a bowler I never depend much on the surface whatever be the format. In ODIs and Test I look to focus more in bowling the right areas as you need to be patient to pick up wickets. That is the only change. I played county cricket last year and wickets were dry and I hope they will help spinner this time too. I only try to control things that I can and depend on my abilities.
Q) Lack of consistency in SRH’s performance this season, any particular reason?
Nothing in general, we have done well so far, just that we couldn’t finish a couple of matches due to a batting collapse. We are looking to play positive cricket and the focus is about improving every match.
Q) Do you think there is over-dependence of Warner and Bairstow?
There is no doubt that our openers are really good and they have been scoring a lot of runs. I think the middle order has not got a lot of opportunities so far. Everyone is in good form and hitting the nets hard.I think the middle order is waiting for a big opportunity to strike and I am confident they will come good if required in the matches to come.
Q) All the teams are still in the mix for the play-offs, what is the strategy for SRH from here?
Competition is really tough and all the teams have started winning. I think that makes our job quite easy as you know you have to win every match from now. The focus in the camp is to play positive cricket and not worry about the results of the other team. We are definitely aiming for the top spot.
Q) Which team according to you are the favourites for the World Cup?
Every team is playing well and the format is such that any team which gets a string of good results their way can make it to the knock-outs. If we play well we can do well too.
Q) What are your views about this year’s format and what are Afghanistan’s chances?
This is a very big tournament for us. We have got a chance to play against all the top teams in the World Cup and that is a great opportunity for Afghanistan. We have the skills to compete against the top teams as we showed in the Asia Cup. I hope we can win the big moments and who knows we could do really well. We don’t have a lot of experience against the top teams but we have the talent to compete with them.