Rashid Khan isn't perturbed by the batting conducive conditions at Trent Bridge and nor by the weight of expectations.
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Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan stated that he was excited about the opportunity to bowl ten balls in a row, in the ongoing maiden edition of The Hundred. Rashid will be seen representing Trent Rockets in their opening encounter against Southern Brave. The match will take place at batting paradise Trent Bridge. Rashid was in good form in the recently concluded edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The leg-spinner will be facing off against the likes of James Vince, who was in great touch during the recently concluded T20I series against Pakistan.
Rashid however is not affected by the batting-friendly conditions at Trent Bridge and nor by the weight of expectations.
“As a spinner, if you have those things in your mind, that the wicket is flat, the boundary short, I think it doesn’t help you. What helps is that you bring your own skills and your own experience to the game, rather than to think about those things, which is not in our control. As a bowler, you cannot get 75-80-metre boundaries at every ground. But still, if you bowl a bad ball, even if it’s a 100-metre boundary, they are going to hit you for six, you’re going to concede runs. So it will be definitely a challenge. I will need consistency in how I bowl, and that will be tested. But as long as I have that positive mindset for the game, I can deliver,” said the Afghanistan cricketer as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
“Whatever it is, as long as I’m hitting the right area, and backing up my skills and my talent, I think I can deliver for the team. Your best delivery is your best delivery for any batsman around the world. That’s why it has written on the wicket [on the TV analysis], ‘good length’. As long as you’re hitting that area, that gives you the maximum right result,” he added.
Rashid has maintained a superb economy rate of 6.28 in 267 T20 matches.
“I’m super excited about bowling ten balls in a row. It kind of gives you an opportunity to take ten wickets straight away, and three hat-tricks. That’s an advantage we have, but you can also be hit for ten sixes as well, or give 50 runs away in just ten balls. It mostly depends on the conditions, and the situation of the game as well, but if a batsman is struggling against any bowler then, definitely, the opposition captain will want to have those ten balls by that bowler to keep the pressure on.
“In this format, I think the more you look to put the pressure on the batsman, that’s the time they give you the wicket, rather than trying to attack to get his wicket. As long as you’re putting the pressure on by bowling the dot balls, that gives you the wickets as well. If you want to have a successful competition, then definitely, it’s 60-70% the fans that make it successful. If you look at the last one-and-a-half years, we don’t have fans in the stadium, it doesn’t look the same game. The fans make it more bright and entertaining, and if they give their love to this form of the game as well, it will be on top of the world. As players, we can only give 100% in the centre, and bring our skills into the game.”
“To me, it looks like a massive competition, for everyone around the world, not only here in England,” he opined. “It will definitely take lots of attention and motivate lots of youngsters as well, and that’s the main reason behind this game, to motivate the youngsters and to bring their mindset for this game,” concluded Rashid.
