Ahead of his team’s IPL 2020 opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on September 21, SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) leg-spinner Rashid Khan said that bowling to Virat Kohli is a "proud moment" and he relishes the challenge of bowling to the world’s top batsmen.
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Rashid, who recently plied his trade in the Caribbean Premier League for Barbados Tridents, is also looking to showcase his talent with the bat in the 13th edition of IPL.
"I think I always have the thing in my mind, whenever there are three or four overs left in the innings, I think I can give the best performance with the bat. It depends on how the situation is, when I play the Big Bash, I have been told by the coaching staff as to how I need to go after the 15 overs mark. When you get such a positive response from coach and captain, it is really good," Rashid replied to an ANI query during a virtual press conference on Sunday (September 20).
"I should not be thinking much about I can bat, I should just focus on what I can do in the entire match, I will try my best to do well for the team," he added.
Cricket fans are eager to see the battle between Rashid and Kohli in the third game of IPL 2020.
Commenting on the same, the Afghanistan leggie said: "I think whenever you are bowling to anyone, you are under pressure. Virat is a world-class player in all three formats, I love it when somebody like him is batting against me, it is the best competition and you want it as a bowler, I will enjoy bowling to him, it will be a proud moment bowling to him. As a bowler, I will try to bowl the best deliveries."
Rashid is known for his variations in the shortest format but the 22-year-old clarified that he has not developed any new deliveries for the marquee tournament.
"I have been working hard on all my deliveries, I haven't developed any new delivery to a 100 per cent so I cannot afford to try new balls in a match like situation, I have been working hard, bringing new balls to a game would be hard for me. I need to be smarter compared to the last few years. The more consistent I bowl, it will help me," said Rashid.
"Spinners will be key in this competition as it goes on, wickets might get better for the spinners as the tournament progresses, the grounds are bigger as well and that helps as a spinner. Sharjah is a small ground but the wicket would be good for the spinners," he further remarked.
On a different note, Rashid Khan is fairly impressed by the crowd noise technology used by the IPL organisers.
"Playing without a crowd was a bit tough in the CPL, I was reminded of club cricket initially, the crowd noise helps you on the ground, the best idea from the IPL organisers has been to have crowd noise to keep players fresh in the middle. The crowd gives you extra energy in the ground but we know they are watching us from television," said Rashid.
(With ANI inputs)
