Gujarat Titans vice-captain Rashid Khan admitted that his team was 15-20 runs short against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Monday. Khan, who recently played for Sunrisers Hyderabad, was facing his former team for the first time this season after joining Gujarat Titans. The Afghan spinner said it was a good feeling to play against Orange Army and praised their pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan, who restricted them to low scores.
The ace spinner further said that the Gujarat bowlers tried to put pressure on the SRH batsmen but they controlled themselves in critical conditions and hit boundaries at the right time to change the pace.
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“It was a good feeling. It was a close match, we were 15-20 runs short because Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan bowled really well in the death overs. They didn’t let us get the extra 15-20 runs but our bowlers also started well with the new ball in the powerplay overs. Sunrisers batsmen batted really well and scored runs when our bowlers were trying to put pressure on them. Their batsman controlled himself in tough conditions. Total Together they played a planned game where the top order made it easy for them and Nicholas Pooran ended the game for them. Hope we learn from this and try to rectify our mistakes in the upcoming matches.”
Dew has been a major factor for the captain to bowl first this season. However, the Gujarat Titans spinner feels that there has not been enough dew so far, which could affect the bowling enough, as he got ready to bowl with wet balls during the tour of Bangladesh earlier this year.
“It is a bit difficult to bowl with dew, but luckily there is not that much dew that can affect your bowling as it used to be. It usually comes in the last five overs, it creates some problems but as a professional player, you have to be prepared for it. I bowled with the wet ball in Bangladesh before the IPL to get ready for the conditions.”
Sunrisers handed their first loss of the season to new franchise Titans and many critics and fans feel that the management will have to replace out-of-form Matthew Wade with other players like Wriddhiman Saha and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
Read also | SRH vs GT Talking Points: Timeout for Wade; King Kane returns to form
Khan believes that a loss should not change the team as every player goes through tough times.
“I think you lose a game doesn’t mean you make so many changes in the team. It’s not just that we lose games and we make changes in the team. We keep things simple And give confidence to every player. It’s not like 11 players will perform every day, everyone has some tough times. We will continue to support each other and give each other confidence.”
Talking about his bowling pace, Khan revealed that if he reduces his pace then he will not be able to hit the desired line and length.
The kind of action I have doesn’t allow me to bowl slow. If I bowl slow, I may not be able to pitch the ball in the right places. I call myself a fast spinner who bowls at around 95-100 kmph. The pace allows me to bowl in a tight line and helps me with consistency.”
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