“For me, Yuzvendra Chahal is No. 1” - Mohammad Kaif explains why he rates RR leggie higher than Rashid Khan

Yuzvendra Chahal (left) and Rashid Khan. Pic: IPL/ Twitter

Former India batter Mohammad Kaif has rated Yuzvendra Chahal as a better leg-spinner than Rashid Khan. According to Kaif, Chahal, who plays for Rajasthan Royals (RR), has plenty of variations and makes great use of the pitch. In comparison, accuracy is Gujarat Titans (GT) spinner Khan's strength, but he isn’t as versatile in terms of mixing up his deliveries.

Both Chahal and Khal will be in action when RR face GT in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2022 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday. While Gujarat finished first in the IPL 2022 points table with ten wins in 14 games, Rajasthan emerged victorious in nine matches to claim second place in the standings.

Ahead of the first playoff match this season, Kaif compared the bowling styles of Chahal and Rashid in a Sportskeeda video, opining:

“For me, Yuzvendra Chahal is No. 1. The reason is because of the kind of variations that he has. Some of his deliveries have been sent down with speeds as low as 70 kph. He has got the faster one as well. He bowls outside the off stump and sometimes on leg stump as well. Sometimes, he bowls straight at the stumps as well. He is making use of the entire pitch smartly by bowling such different line and lengths."

Talking about Khan, Kaif pointed out his lack of use of the surface, explaining:

“In comparison to Chahal, Rashid Khan doesn’t use the pitch so much while bowling. His strength is his accuracy. He keeps the ball around the off stump and likes bowling stump-to-stump. That’s where Chahal is smarter. The variations in pace make him and Rashid very different bowlers.”

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“I look at Chahal as a genuine wicket-taker” - Mohammad Kaif

According to Kaif, Chahal is a genuine wicket-taker, which is why he is sitting atop the wickets tally in IPL 2022. Concluding his thoughts on the 31-year-old, Kaif said:

“I look at Chahal as a genuine wicket-taker, which has been proven by the fact that he is the Purple Cap holder. He is always looking to take wickets. He is not scared of trying out different variations. He is bowling slowly when needed to so that batters don’t have pace to work with. With his full and slow deliveries, he is tempting the batters into playing false strokes.”

🚨 Team News 🚨

1⃣ change for @gujarat_titans as Alzarri Joseph is named in the team.

@rajasthanroyals remain unchanged.

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While Chahal has 26 wickets in 14 IPL 2022 games at an average of 16.53, Rashid Khan has 18 from 14 outings at an average of 21.55.