'When he was at SRH, I had people on social media telling me...': Tom Moody's unwavering remark on Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan played a bright cameo with the bat, hitting a six and a four off successive balls to take GT to five-wicket win in IPL 2023 opener against CSK.

The Gujarat Titans made a winning start to their 2023 Indian Premier League campaign against Chennai Super Kings, beating MS Dhoni's men by five wickets in Ahmedabad. The side chased down a 179-run target with four balls to spare, as Shubman Gill (63) produced a fine knock, while Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia played a timely cameo to steer the Titans past the finishing line. When Rashid arrived at the crease, GT required 23 more runs to win off the final two overs; however, the Afghanistan star took the pressure off the side straightaway with a six and a four off successive deliveries against Deepak Chahar.

Rashid Khan (L) with David Warner at SRH(IPL)

From time to time, Rashid has produced brilliant cameos in the IPL for both – Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans – and Tom Moody, the former SRH coach who worked with the leg-spinner for a significant period, made a big revelation as he talked about his batting following the IPL opener. Moody revealed that he often received suggestions about pushing Rashid up in the batting order – as up as no.3 – when he was the SRH head coach.

Moody further explained why it wasn't a reasonable move.

“It is interesting because over the years, I've quite often had people say, 'why does he bat at 7?' This was when he was at Sunrisers. 'Why don't you bat him earlier?' You had a few on social media saying he should be batting at 3!” Moody revealed as he talked about Rashid on ESPNCricinfo.

“The reality is, he is at his best when he's in that situation where he is facing 10 or less balls. That's when he's at his greatest, that's when he is a great threat. If he comes in the 10th over, that would be a totally different situation for him to unpack. He's very dangerous from the 17th over onwards,” Moody further said.

Rashid was influential for the Titans in the previous season when they lifted the IPL title, as he took 19 wickets in the season with an impressive economy rate of 6.60.