Former Indian cricketer Krishnamachari Srikkanth has opined that Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) leg-spinner Rashid Khan is so far the most valuable cricketer in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Afghan leggie may not have scalped any wicket against Mumbai Indians but his superb spell saw the opposition batters struggling against him.
The likes of Quinton de Kock and MI captain Rohit Sharma played knocks of 40 and 32 respectively, but the Sunrisers managed to maintain a stranglehold on the defending champions. As a result, MI were restricted to 150/5 in the allotted 20 overs after batting first in Chennai. (IPL 2021 FULL COVERAGE)
Rashid returned with the figures of 2/22 and was the second most economical bowler for SRH. His excellence impressed Srikkanth as the former cricketer heaped praise on the leg-spinner. He also mentioned that Chennai is becoming the epicenter for nail-biting finishes in this year's IPL.
“@rashidkhan_19 you are by far the most valuable player in the IPL ever! Absolute amazing bowling which helped the @SunRisers to restrict @mipaltan to 150 odd! Chepaulk becoming the epicenter for thrillers this,” Srikkanth tweeted.
The Sunrisers, however, failed to execute their batting plans as they went through a horrendous collapse while chasing a 151-run target. Jonny Bairstow smashed a 22-ball 43 to give SRH a rollicking start, while David Warner too managed 36 off 34 balls but once the duo was dismissed, the middle-order again failed to come to the fore.
{{/usCountry}}The Sunrisers, however, failed to execute their batting plans as they went through a horrendous collapse while chasing a 151-run target. Jonny Bairstow smashed a 22-ball 43 to give SRH a rollicking start, while David Warner too managed 36 off 34 balls but once the duo was dismissed, the middle-order again failed to come to the fore.
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All-rounder Vijay Shankar (28 off 25) cracked a couple of sixes off Krunal to keep SRH in the hunt but he kept losing his partners. Abdul Samad (7) was sent packing by Hardik with another direct throw and then Boult produced a perfect yorker to rid get of Rashid (0).
Vijay too perished in the next over as SRH fell short once again to suffer their third successive loss.
(With Agency Inputs)