The Wankhede Stadium wicket has been a batting friendly and on top of it the size is smaller. So will a bowler like Rashid struggle?
Afghanistan leg spinner Rashid Khan has already caught the imagination of the Indian fans in his first two games of IPL.
He has been the reason behind Sunrisers Hyderabad’s success in the first two games. It wasn’t a surprise when coach Tom Moody was thrown a lot of questions on the young leg-spinner in the pre-match press conference ahead of the MI-SRH game on Tuesday.
“I’m not surprised, that’s why we were keen to get him in the auction. I’ve watched him bowl over the past 12 months and been very impressed with what he’s capable of doing. He, along with Mohammad Nabi, are the couple of the reasons why Afghanistan have really grown as a cricketing side over the last year or two,” Moody said.
“I’m just thrilled for him that he’s had an early opportunity to get familiar with IPL cricket and feel comfortable out in the middle, and he’s clearly very comfortable,” he added.
On the effectiveness of leg-spinners in T20 cricket, Moody said: “The one thing with leg-spin bowling is that all leg-spinners can spin it both ways. That’s one advantage. The other advantage is if you’re a spin bowler like Rashid – that can spin it both ways with the ability to disguise which one it is that’s going left or right — makes it doubly difficult for any batsman. It’s one of the reasons that Sunil Narine — not that he’s a leg-spinner — but he’s been such a handful over a long period of time, he turns it both ways with mystery.
“So, Rashid has a very good wrong ’un and he’s also got a good leggie, he bowls at generally a lot quicker pace than most leg-spinners, which is suited to the Indian wickets. He’s obviously found some good form early.”
The Wankhede Stadium wicket has been a batting friendly and on top of it the size is smaller. So will a bowler like Rashid struggle?
“No, not at all. For the size of the ground to come into contention, the batsmen have got to hit him first, don’t they? Like any spinner, he is going to be challenged on smaller grounds. But traditionally the surface here offers something for spin bowling – it bounces a bit and also turns a bit. So, he’ll relish the conditions out in the middle. With T20 cricket there are going to be times when you are hit out of the ground, that’s all part of it. It’s just how you respond to that is important.”
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