IPL 2019: 3 best spells by Rashid Khan in IPL history
In the last few years, we have witnessed a wave of leg-spinners sweeping through the game of cricket and Afghanistan’s 20-year-old Rashid Khan is the leading name in that list.
His cleverly disguised googly has bamboozled batsmen all over the world and even Virat Kohli is not an exception to that.
Sunrisers Hyderabad bought Rashid Khan’s services for 4 crore rupees in the 2017 IPL auction and he achieved the distinction of being the first Afghan cricketer to play in India’s premier T20 tournament.
The white-ball magician proved his worth with the ball in the first season with 17 wickets from 14 matches. He continued to dazzle in the second year as well and added 21 wickets to his kitty.
Rashid Khan has played 31 IPL matches so far and has captured a total of 38 wickets while conceding only 6.68 runs per over. The leg-spinner has played a huge role in turning SRH into a bowling-dominated unit and in his brief career, he has already earned six Man of the Match Awards.
Following are the three are his most memorable performances in the IPL so far:
#3 3/19 against Gujarat Lions (2017)
After picking up two wickets in his IPL debut, it did not take long for Rashid Khan to reveal his bowling magic. In only his second match, the Afghani leg-spinner earned his first Man of the Match award. The stunning performance happened in the sixth match of the 2017 IPL.
Sunrisers Hyderabad won the toss and made Gujarat Lions to bat first at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Lions’ openers Jason Roy and Brendon McCullum raced off to a blitzing start of 32/0 in three overs.
Captain David Warner then brought Rashid Khan into the attack and the move paid off immediately as in his first over, Rashid conceded only three runs and trapped McCullum LBW. The leg-spinner then dismissed Aaron Finch with another googly in his next over.
Maintaining the flow of wickets, Rashid removed Suresh Raina with another LBW decision in his third over. The Afghan bowler rounded off his match-winning spell with the figures of 3/19.
The Gujarat team finished at 135/7 in 20 overs. Sunrisers Hyderabad chased the total down in just 15.3 overs with the loss of a solitary wicket and Rashid Khan was adjudged the Man of the Match for his sterling bowling spell.