Rashid Khan, the Sunrisers Hyderabad wrist-spinner, has come out and said that he enjoys bowling more to the right-handers than left-handers. The ball turning away from the right-hand batsmen is something that puts a smile on every leg-spinner's face but Rashid has stated that beating the left-hander's outside edges with his wrong'uns is something that gives him immense joy.
Rashid who has been magnificent for SRH this season was quoted saying in an interview to ESPNcricinfo as “I prefer bowling to righty batsmen over lefties. I bowl the wrong’un much better to righties, I still enjoy bowling to lefties, especially when I beat them with the wrong’uns, whether I get a wicket or not. Otherwise, I enjoy bowling to both kinds of batsmen. But I don’t feel that “Oh, a lefty or righty is on strike now”
Rashid is blessed as when he gets to work with Sunrisers Hyderabad, he bowls in the nets under the guidance of Muttiah Muralitharan. Rashid talked about how is it like working with Test Cricket's highest wicket-taker.
He said, “When he saw my action and everything, he told me, “You are absolutely perfect, and you don’t need to change anything.” He talks to me about spot bowling – focuses on where I want to pitch the ball, the spot I want to target. The second thing he always tells me is that I have to remain relaxed and cool even when batsmen hit me for sixes, or even if I take five-six wickets, and that I should bowl according to my plan and targets. “What the batsmen do after that is different. You have to focus on your bowling and apart from the talent you have, you have to remain mentally strong.” That’s what he would tell me again and again. He has shared a lot of his experience with me and says that once you become mentally strong, it will help you in a lot of situations,”
Rashid reiterated it is the freedom given by the coaches to not tinker too much with his game, that has helped him. He said, “Whichever coaches I worked with, not one of them tried to change my style of bowling or my action. They would always give me confidence but nobody tried to change me. The head coach with our Under-19 team, Dawlat Ahmadzai, supported me a lot and told me I had a lot of talent and that I would go far. He gave me a lot of confidence. Otherwise, there was no coach as such who taught me the technicalities like how to hold the ball, how should the action be, how to release the ball, etc. All this came naturally to me,”
