IPL 2019: Number of wickets doesn't matter for me, says Rashid Khan

Hyderabad: Rashid Khan’s wicket-taking ability makes him an effective Twenty20 bowler if not the No.1 T20 player at the moment. However, the leg-spinner hasn’t been able to pick up a whole lot of wickets in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition as he was in the previous two seasons. In the first seven matches, Rashid picked only six wickets. The Nangarhar-born tweaker claimed 31 wickets in 24 matches in the first two editions and conceded runs at an economy 6.69 only.

Rashid’s economy rate of 5.79 in those seven matches suggested that the players tried to be a bit more careful against the Afghanistan star player. Playing out his four overs and targeting other bowlers seemed to be the main strategy of the batsmen while facing Rashid this season. However, against the Chennai Super Kings, the leg-spinner picked up two wickets in the same over; the first time he picked up more than one wicket in a game this season.

Rashid felt that the number of wickets he picks up at the end of the day doesn’t matter to him. He is happy to go economical with the batsmen not taking any risks against him. “Taking wickets and not taking wickets doesn’t make any difference to me. I always try my best to bowl economically for the team,” said the SRH leg-spinner.

Rashid Khan also spoke about the pitches in this season which are producing less turn compared to the previous editions. “If you see from the first game, the batsmen played me more carefully than last year. Even the wickets have been different compared to the last year as it doesn’t turn that much. It gets difficult to get them out until they make a mistake. But I think I am happy with the way I bowled on such wickets.”

We are fully ready for the World Cup: Rashid Khan

Soon after the completion of the IPL, Rashid Khan will join Afghanistan for his maiden shot at the ODI World Cup. The expectations have gradually increased over the Afghans given their success in the last 4-5 years. Rashid says they are well prepared for the big event and have enough talent to cover all bases in the squad. He also felt controlling the nerves at the big stage will be key for their young team.

“We are fully ready and fully prepared for the World Cup. The team is already in South Africa for the fitness camp. We have the talent and the skills,” said Rashid Khan after SRH’s grand win over CSK.

“We just need to have belief in ourselves and control the nerves which will be the main thing for us while playing against big teams at a big event like World Cup. The only difference will be how we play against the big players as we didn’t play a lot in front of big teams. We will try our best to do as good as possible,” he added.

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