Gujarat Titans endured a gut-wrenching three-wicket defeat in opposition to the Kolkata Knight Riders on the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. But the return to wicket-taking methods of its stand-in skipper and star leggie Rashid Khan will encourage confidence because the event picks up tempo. Rashid secured the primary hat-trick of IPL 2023 in opposition to the Knight Riders and his fourth general in T20 cricket – essentially the most by any bowler within the format.
What made Rashid’s splendid comeback extra particular was the truth that his first three overs had gone for 35 with none rewards.
Last IPL season, Rashid had 19 wickets in 16 matches at 6.59. In three IPL 2023 matches, he already has eight wickets at 7.83.
Asked what KKR’s plan was in opposition to Rashid, all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer made an attention-grabbing level. “He’s a world-class bowler and on his day, can run through lineups. Our plan was to not play him out, had we done that then we would’ve allowed him to settle on a length. I think the way we scored off other bowlers in the buildup to Rashid bhai’s overs made him bowl the way he did,” Iyer stated after the match.
Iyer is correct. When Rashid got here on to bowl within the ninth over, KKR captain Nitish Rana and Iyer had been carting the ball throughout the park. The stress was on Rashid to introduce a modicum of management and it confirmed in his lengths as he tried to bowl largely quick or in need of good size. Given the excessive tempo — delivering over 60mph often — at which Rashid bowls, batters discover it tough to hit him for boundaries from that size. But each time he erred on the complete, Rana and Iyer made him pay.
That stated, two of the three hat-trick wickets had been googlies on a size, contact fuller than what Rashid had been making an attempt his entire spell and therein lies the important thing to Rashid’s wicket-taking.
Rashid has realised that groups are likely to play him out when he bowls a barely shortish size, so now he’s being proactive and trying to find wickets by bowling fuller lengths.
A typical tactic employed by groups, and this contains Afghanistan as nicely, is that they like to make use of Rashid within the second half of the innings when the sector is unfold, thus goading the opposition batters into taking extra dangers and risking collapses.
Rashid has had the majority of his success whereas bowling within the center overs. He has 366 T20 wickets between overs 7 and 16, 106 on the loss of life and solely 47 within the PowerPlay. He has additionally bowled the least variety of balls inside the primary six overs.
The identical applies to the IPL, the place he has 91 wickets within the center overs at 6.21 and solely 10 within the PowerPlay at 7.48. He has 19 wickets between 17 and 20 at greater than 7. Only 198 out of a complete of 2267 balls he has bowled within the IPL, had been within the PowerPlay overs.
One means Rashid might look to ask batters to go after him is by bowling extra within the first six and on the loss of life. Whether that occurs later this IPL stays to be seen. For now, going by the early development, it does appear the followers will see much more of Rashid celebrating by lifting his arms excessive and extensive than they did final 12 months. That might solely imply good issues for the Titans.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com