If The Ball Is Dry, Rashid Khan Could Cause Lot Of Trouble To KKR: Ashish Nehra

Former Indian seamer Ashish Nehra has dissected how SunRisers Hyderabad could trouble the Kolkata Knight Riders in their upcoming game. The third day of the 2021 season of IPL and the blockbuster Sunday will witness Kolkata Knight Riders and SunRisers Hyderabad lock horns in Chennai. Ashish Nehra believes that the Orange Army’s much-vaunted bowling attack could be problematic for the Knight Riders and Rashid Khan in particular.

While SunRisers Hyderabad’s batting line-up might be slightly feeble, they arguably have one of the best bowling attacks. The likes of Shahbaz Nadeem, Rashid Khan, T Natarajan, Sandeep Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman are capable of finding help from unhelpful surfaces too. Furthermore, other candidates like Kedar Jadhav, Jason Holder, and Vijay Shankar as bystanders are equally credible bowlers.

In Bhuvneshwar Kumar, they have a two-time purple cap winner, while Rashid Khan was the sixth-highest wicket-taker last season with 16 scalps. Hence, with SunRisers Hyderabad set to play their first match at Chepauk, which assists spin, one would have to assume that they would start as favourites. The David Warner-led side also have the reputation of defending some of the most modest totals in IPL history.

As we saw in the first game, the square boundaries are big: Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra pointed out that with the square boundaries being big and despite the ball getting wet, it was still challenging to hit it. The former left-arm seamer observed that the likes of Harshal Patel, Kyle Jamieson, Dan Christian were able to bowl slower deliveries with the wet ball. Thus, Ashish Nehra trusts Bhuvneshwar Kumar and T Natarajan to utilize the conditions well due to their experience and banks on Rashid Khan to trouble if the ball is dry.

“As we saw in the first game, the square boundaries are big. The ball did get wet, but the ball was still holding up on this pitch, unlike the Wankhede (in Mumbai). We saw it with seamers as well. Talk about Dan Christian, Kyle Jamieson, and even Harshal Patel, who was still pulling off the slower balls with a wet ball. So, bowlers like Bhuvi and Natarajan have enough experience to make good use of the conditions. Especially, Rashid Khan. If the ball is dry, then he can cause a lot of trouble for KKR,” Nehra told Cricbuzz.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Rashid Khan Reveals The Reason Behind SunRisers Hyderabad’s Consistency