Gujarat Titans (GT) vice-captain Rashid Khan was elated at the team’s 55-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) at home in Ahmedabad in the ongoing IPL 2023 tournament, calling it a ‘significant victory’.
Shubman Gill top-scored with 56 but it was the belligerent hitting of David Miller (46) and Abhinav Manohar (42) in the death overs that earned Gujarat its highest-ever IPL total of 207-6.
In reply, the Afghanistan spin twins Noor Ahmad (3-37) and Rashid Khan (2-27) dismantled Mumbai’s middle order before Nehal Wadhera’s quickfire 40 off 21 balls saw Mumbai finish at 152-9.
After the match, Mohammad Shami and Rashid Khan looked back at the performance and shared their plan and strategy that was in place.
“The Feeling was good as we got the right start, and our boys took the responsibility and scored a good total in the first innings. This victory was significant as we lost the last two matches. And the way you (Shami) started in the bowling is when you have 208 runs to defend and the opposition have just scored 24-25 runs in 6 overs. The credit goes to you (Shami) the way you and Hardik started, we got momentum in the middle,” said Khan in a video shared by IPL as he received the purple cap from Mohammad Shami.
When asked about his mindset, Rashid said,” With the fall of wickets in the powerplay, the required run rate increased to almost 13-14 and let the batters make the mistake.”
On the other hand, Shami revealed his plan with the ball and said: “When you are starting for your team, it's critical to know the right area, maintain your rhythm, and control your line and length. The plan was the same as a team is discussing to give the least runs in power play.”
Shami was also asked to share encouraging words for budding pacers who look up to him.
Shami said, “First is to focus on your fitness; sometimes the vision and what you think adds more pressure than the format; what I advice is rather than thinking so many things if you just work on your line and length, that would be helpful.”
“It doesn’t matter if you have the red, white, or pink ball; if your ball is pitching in the right area then it will help you to get more wickets. So, most important is your rhythm and bowling area,” he added.
GT is now second on the IPL 2023 points table with 10 points and will next face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens on April 29.
(Indian Express inputs)
