You can ask anyone touching who’s the best T20 spinner in the world? The unanimous answer will be Rashid Khan. The wizard from Afghanistan has tormented even the greats of the game.
T20 is often regarded as a batsman’s game, However, Rashid surely doesn’t believe in this cliche as he makes batsmen dance to his tunes when he has the ball in his hands.
The leg-spinner is currently playing a central role for Sunrises Hyderabad in IPL 2020. After 2 quite initial matches, Rashid got his mojo back and has since then not looked back. Wickets, wickets and more wickets that’s always the motto of Rashid Khan when he gets ready to bowl.
But what makes this gifted leg-spinner such a powerful force in T20 cricket. Why don’t other spinners are unable to produce such impactful match-winning performances consistently? In this feature, we take a close look at Rashid Khan and find out what his so successful even in T20 cricket.
5 Reasons Why Rashid Khan Is So Successful In T20:
1. Immense Control Over His Length
Leg spinners at times can be hot and cold with the lengths that they bowl but not Rashid Khan. One rarely sees Rashid bowling a poor ball and getting dispatched into the stands. The batsmen have to even execute big strokes on good balls which makes him impossible to get away.
The leggie has immense control over his length and doesn’t give gifts to opposition batsmen. As a result, he picks loads to wickets in T20 cricket as he exerts constant pressure through his immaculate line and length.
Rashid never gives an inch away to the batsmen and he consistently executes that nagging length to which batsmen are unsure about whether to play it on the front foot or back foot.
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2. His Speed Is His Weapon
Since his childhood, Rashid Khan has idolised two unconventional but great leg spinners. Former legendary India bowler Anil Kumble and the irresistible Shahid Afridi from Pakistan.
You see Rashid Khan bowl you will surely see similarities that he shares with these two former great spinners. Unlike other spinners in the world Rashid bowls at a quicker speed hence batsmen find it difficult to get under his balls and loft him for boundaries.
A batsman just can’t pre-meditate any stroke against him because of the speed at which he balls. One can only bat against him with instincts as he rushes you with his pace and doesn’t allow anyone to easily hit him out of the ground.
3. Impossible To Pick his ‘Googly’
The ‘Googly’ is a wicket-taking option for any spinner in the world. A perfect ‘Googly’ is executed when a batsman is unable to spot a slight changed in the wrist position of the spinner and tries playing for traditional leg-spin.
Rashid is a master of fooling the batsmen when he bowls the ‘wrong un’. His change in the wrist position when looks to spin the ball the other way is incredibly hard to pick. Plus his quick arm action also makes the life of a batsman difficult as he is unsure where the ball is going to spin.
Rashid holds the bowl with a split-finger when he looks to bowl to stock bowl which spins away from the right-hander. On the other hand, when he decided the bowl the googly he holds them with fingers on the side and there is a slight last-minute change in his wrist when he flicks the ball from the side of his hand.
This makes his wicket-taking delivery extremely difficult to spot and he ends of bamboozling even the top batsmen in the world. He gets momentum through the crease and bowls the ball with a lot of energy which makes him different from the rest.
Also Read: Bowling To Virat Kohli Is A Proud Moment, Says Rashid Khan
4. No Freebies When He’s Bowling
Rashid Khan not many realise this but he’s a very thinking spinner. At times spinners can go for plenty as they bowl long hops and end up going for more than 40 runs in their 4 overs spell.
However, Rashid Khan rarely has an off day and doesn’t bowl easy balls to the opposition batsmen. Even when he’s not picking wickets he is still economical and doesn’t allow the opposition to take a lead in the match.
Rashid practices for hours and hours in the nets so that he doesn’t disappoint his team when he bowls in the match. Even after playing more than 50 matches in the IPL his economy rate is mere 6.35 which makes him world-class. Rashid is like a bowling action you set the length that you want him to ball and he will keep bowling it all day long.
5. Never Intimidated To Bowl At The Best
This is a very crucial point, why he has been so successful in T20 career. The champion bowler likes the contest and even after not having loads of experience of playing International cricket he loves bowling at the best players in the world.
The zip in his bowling is just different when he’s bowling to the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ab de Villiers, MS Dhoni and the rest. The 22-year-old never backs down from the bight and always looks to produce magic against skilled batsmen.
In his career so far, we have seen he wants the ball when the best opposition batsman takes a strike. He is never intimidated and he never questions his ability when he has the ball in his hand. The smiling assassin gathers himself at his run-up and goes for wickets every ball that is what makes him tick in all matches.
Immense confidence, self-belief, always wanting the ball in his hand, never intimidated and above all keeps mastering his strengths that is what makes Rashid Khan an all-out match-winner in T20 cricket.
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