Hyderabad: It looked like the match was going down to the wire before Sunrisers Hyderabad bowler Rashid Khan hit a four and a six off the last two balls off the 19th over from Jofra Archer to finish the game against Rajasthan Royals on Friday. Known as a bowler who can bat, the Afghanistan bowler showed great temperament in the pressure-cooker situation to take his team home.
Speaking after the game, Man of the Match Rashid said that the coaching staff give him a lot of confidence and that has helped him improve his batting. He also added that he looks to remain positive and back his own skills. “I am working on my batting. I need to bat well when my team needs me. My coaches — (Tom) Moody, Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) and (V.V.S.) Laxman — have always backed me and given me lot of confidence saying you can hit anywhere, just a case of backing yourself. That’s what I did.
“I think I just try my best to be positive in each game and I am working hard and believing in my own skills, so that’s what is working for me,” he smiled. But before his heroics with the bat came another brilliant display with the ball as he dismissed the dangerous Jos Buttler at the top of the Royals innings. Rashid said that having dismissed the dangerous batsman a few times earlier also gave him the slight edge.
“The plan was to bowl in the good length area to Buttler, I have got him out a few times, so that’s why I came in early. I was mixing my variations. Didn’t want to give room to batsmen because the ball wasn’t turning much,” he said. Asked about the secret behind his consistent show even in a format like T20 cricket, Rashid said: “I have five different leg-spin variations with different actions. I just back myself with my variations and pitch it in the good length area.”