Arguably the best bowler in T20 cricket, Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan on Saturday April (23) became only the fourth overseas player to claim 100 wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after Dwayne Bravo (179 wickets, 158 matches), Lasith Malinga (170 wickets, 122 matches) and Sunil Narine (149 wickets, 142 matches).
Rashid achieved this feat in 83 games, making him the joint-third fastest to reach 100 wickets in the IPL alongside Amit Mishra and Ashish Nehra.
Rashid Khan began his IPL journey with Sunrisers Hyderabad. He represented the franchise from 2017-2021, featuring in 76 games and taking 93 wickets.
However, the leg-spinner parted ways with SRH after the 2021 IPL and was signed by Gujarat Titans for INR 15 crore from the 2022 player draft.
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While the experts believe not retaining Rashid is a big loss for the Hyderabad-based franchise, SRH’s batting coach Brian Lara feels his team is doing well without the talented leggie.
"I have a great respect for Rashid Khan but I believe we have the right combination. Rashid Khan was someone who opposition teams decided to defend against, he was not much of a wicket-taker," Lara said on Star Sports after SRH's win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.
"Yes (economy of) 5.5-6 runs per over is great but I think when you have a guy like Washington Sundar spinning the ball into the left-handers in the first six overs, He is an asset. Suchith has come in as his replacement due to injury and he is an asset as well.
"We have gone in with four fast bowlers every single game so far. Of course, the pitches may change, they may have less grass later on. We have Shreyas Gopal as well, though he hasn't had a game so far. He is also someone who has a hat-trick in the IPL. I still think we have a lot in the reserves to show the IPL and I am not too worried. All respect to Rashid Khan, if he was a member of this team, I think we might have been 7 out of 7, I don't know," Lara added.
Notably, SRH registered a resounding 9-wicket victory over RCB to climb to the second spot on the IPL 2022 points table.
Opting to bowl first, SRH bundled out RCB for a paltry 68 in 16.1 overs. It was a shambolic batting display from the Bangalore-based franchise as only two batters managed to cross the double-digit mark.
Marco Jansen wreaked havoc on RCB’s top-order with the excellent figures of 3/25 while T Natarajan (3-10), J Suchith (2-12), Umran Malik (1-13) and Bhuvneshwar (1-8) ran through the middle and lower order.
In reply, SRH rode on Abhishek Sharma’s 28-ball 47 and skipper Kane Williamson’s unbeaten 16 to overhaul the target with 72 deliveries to spare.
