Gujarat Titans (GT) Cricketer Rashid Khan opened up about the opportunity of facing his former franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for the 2nd time in the 2022 TATA IPL Indian Premier League season. The leg-spinner spent 5-seasons with the Orange Army but was published after the last edition of the competition.
GT’s only loss in this year’s game came at the hands of SRH before this month. Rashid Khan recorded 1-28 in his primary encounter against his former team.
Great team effort Happy to be contributing to the win tonight 🙌
Thank you for your love and support, 100 wickets in the @IPL but the hard work doesn’t stop 🙏#KKRvGT #SeasonOfFirsts #AavaDe pic.twitter.com/YVdq4Pga5S
— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) April 23, 2022
Opining that the nerves are decided ahead of his 2nd face-off against SRH, Rashid Khan described in the pre-match interview:
“I was feeling very weird the first time I faced Sunrisers Hyderabad. I was just trying to focus on my game but still it was in the back of my mind. So, since this is the second time I am facing SRH, those thoughts are now gone and I will try to perform the best I can.”
The Afghanistan-born bowler stated the wicket of his former teammate Abhishek Sharma in a competition where GT ended up losing by 8-wickets.
Barring that lone loss, the new franchise has racked up wins courtesy of their well-rounded bowling unit as well as game-winners like Rahul Tewatia and David Miller. The duo almost lone-handedly motivated the team to victory in contests that they were primed to lose.
Opining that the existence of multiple game-winners is a sign of a good team, Rashid Khan added:
“There is a sense of relaxation and confidence when you get different players winning the game for the side. It is also a sign of a good team, that they are not always reliant on one or two players. So far bowlers have won matches for us, batters have won games for us. There are match winners across all departments here.”
There were many doubts over the possibility of the new side, given their performance at the IPL 2022 mega-auction. Although, under the guidance of Ashish Nehra, the Hardik Pandya-led side is proving anybody wrong for the time being.
“Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra have given the independence to the players” – Rashid Khan.
The skipper-coach dynamic of Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra has definitely clicked for the franchise. Various players have opened up about how the pair have created a positive team setting. In this regard, Rashid Khan added:
“Hardik Pandya and Ashish Nehra have given the freedom to the players to showcase their skills and talent with full confidence. Even the players not part of the playing XI are also getting confidence from the captain and a coach, and it should be like that.”
Titans march in… unchanged 🙌#GTvSRH | #AavaDe | #SeasonOfFirsts pic.twitter.com/kzESisrxQO
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 27, 2022
Gujarat Titans are taking on the in-form SRH at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai tonight. Hardik Pandya finished Kane Williamson’s streak with the toss and chose to bowl first.