New Delhi: Gujarat Titans star spinner Rashid Khan has performed remarkably well both with the ball as well as the bat in IPL 2022. The batsmen of the opposing teams are trying to not give away their wicket to Rashid, and finish his overs quickly while the bowlers of the opposing teams have been finding it really hard to stop Rashid 'the batter' from scoring runs quickly. The GT leg-spinner has an economy rate of 6.73 in 15 matches which is quite impressive. He is ninth on the list of highest wicket-takers with 18 wickets. Rashid has also shown that he can do wonders in batting too. He has hit nine sixes this season with a strike rate of over 206.
Ahead of IPL 2022 final, the Afghanistan spinner said that he is fully prepared with ball and bat for Sunday's final against Rajasthan Royals. Gujarat has reached the final while playing its debut IPL season. Rajasthan has reached the IPL final for the first time since 2008.
“My mindset wasn’t any different in play-offs. The energy and the thought process is the same throughout. But teams are playing it safe against me. So, I am trying to keep it tight and that increases the chance of picking up wickets by the bowler at the other end,” the Afghan spinner said ahead of Sunday’s final.
“Irrespective of whether it is a league game or knockouts, my mindset is to bowl in a certain area and I don’t try anything different. My objective is to build pressure,” Rashid said at the pre-final press conference.
Rashid Khan has contributed to finishing a couple of close games for Gujarat Titans this season which has definitely given him confidence.
“I batted a bit higher than where I was batting before. The other thing is the confidence. It is given by the coaching staff, captain and all the players. They believed I will be able to perform. That is the kind of energy you need as a player and that has been given to me,” he said.
“There are more batting practice sessions for me, batting more than before and the belief that everyone has on me, that this guy can deliver and score some runs for the team, crucial runs.
“I always had that belief that I can score those 20-25 runs for the team at the end, if the team needs,” he added.