‘He was not much of a wicket-taker’ – Brian Lara makes big statement on Rashid Khan

Brian Lara: (Image Source: Twitter)

Rashid Khan rose to fame with exceptional bowling display in the Indian T20 League. He played 5 seasons for Hyderabad between 2017 and 2021. Khan was an integral part of the team and played a major role in making the franchise one of the most consistent outfits in the tournament.

Rashid Khan, however, is no longer part of the Hyderabad’s franchise. He is currently plying his trade for Gujarat in the ongoing edition of the Indian T20 League. On Saturday, he completed 100 wickets in the cash-rich league, becoming only the fourth overseas bowler to do so.

Rashid Khan reached the feat in just 83 matches- joint-third fastest along with Ashish Nehra and Amit Mishra. Rashid Khan has done a great job for Gujarat so far in the ongoing edition of the tournament. The opposition batters find him hard to take him on and one would think that Hyderabad might be regretting on leaving him out from the team.

However, the franchise’s batting coach, Brian Lara, spoke against it. He feels that the team is doing quite well without his services.

“I have a great respect for Rashid Khan but I believe we have the right combination. Rashid Khan was someone who opposition teams decided to defend against, he was not much of a wicket-taker,” Lara said Star Sports after SRH’s win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.

Lara asserted that the franchise have a pretty good bowling attack, while hailing the likes of Washington Sundar and Suchith.

“Yes (economy of) 5.5-6 runs per over is great but I think when you have a guy like Washington Sundar spinning the ball into the left-handers in the first six overs, He is an asset. Suchith has come in as his replacement due to injury and he is an asset as well.

“We have gone in with four fast bowlers every single game so far. Of course, the pitches may change, they may have less grass later on. We have Shreyas Gopal as well, though he hasn’t had a game so far. He is also someone who has a hat-trick in the IPL. I still think we have a lot in the reserves to show the IPL and I am not too worried. All respect to Rashid Khan, if he was a member of this team, I think we might have been 7 out of 7, I don’t know,” Lara added.