Aakash Chopra Explains The Reason Behind Rashid Khan's Success In The IPL 2020

Former India opener, Aakash Chopra speaks on the reasons behind Rashid Khan’s success in the IPL 2020. He even picks the leg-spinner as his best player from the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) over skipper, David Warner.

SRH defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore in Eliminator but lost to Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2. Once again, Rashid Khan was phenomenal in his team’s run till Qualifier 2. Khan picked up 20 wickets at an incredible economy of 5.37- the best in the tournament.

All the batsmen turned out to be illiterate against Rashid Khan: Aakash Chopra

In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra lauded Rashid Khan’s bowling throughout the tournament. He opined that Rashid consistently bowled on one spot right from the first match of the season.

The leggie recorded his best IPL figures of 3/7 against Delhi Capitals in a league match. In another league game against the same opposition, he finished with figures of 3/14. Aakash also did not forget to mention how the 22-year-old choked MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings as he gave away only 12 runs in four overs.

In his YouTube video, Aakash Chopra said, “He was brilliant right from the starting to the end. Warner shone brightly at the end, became explosive but Rashid Khan was amazing right from the beginning. He was bowling at the one spot continuously.

“Twice against the Delhi Capitals, once 3/7 in 4 overs and 3/14 in 4 overs on another occasion and he did not do that once, he did it many times against a lot of opposition teams, once he had the Chennai Super Kings on a tight leash.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator then tries to figure out the reason behind the leg-spinner’s success this season. He observed that Rashid came after playing on slow and low pitches in the Caribbean Premier League to the tracks in the UAE, which were a little quicker. The 43-year-old feels that the batters tried to read him off the pitch and not from the hand, which forced them to play late and they made mistakes.

He continued that it is very difficult to read the turn of Rashid’s deliveries from the pitch. Aakash Chopra funnily said that most of the batters seemed illiterate against the Afghani superstar. The former KKR player picked Rashid Khan as his Man of the Tournament from the Sunrisers Hyderabad team, ahead of David Warner, who had another 500-run season.

“My theory was that he had come after playing less cricket, only played the CPL and the pitches in UAE were a little quicker and on such pitches if you don’t read him from the hand, then you are late and cannot read him off the pitch.

“People were trying to read him off the pitch but no one could do that, all the batsmen turned out to be illiterate when they batted against him. So, he was by far the Man of the Tournament for the Sunrisers Hyderabad,” Aakash Chopra concluded.

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