Muttiah Muralitharan opens up on why Hyderabad did not retain Rashid Khan

The star leg spinner from Afghanistan, Rashid Khan had been an integral part of the Hyderabad team since his debut in the Indian T20 League in 2017. He has played 76 matches for Hyderabad and picked up 93 wickets in them. He had been the prime wicket-taking option for the team in the last five years and had changed the course of many matches single-handedly. But ahead of the 15^th edition of the tournament, Hyderabad surprisingly decided not to retain their star bowler.

The decision on part of the franchise surprised everyone from fans to experts of the game. Subsequently, the newly introduced franchise of Gujarat picked up Rashid Khan in the draft for a price of INR 15 Cr. With his new franchise in the 15^th edition of the tournament, Rashid has looked on song picking up 6 wickets in four matches.

While Hyderabad was facing off against Gujarat in the 21^st match of the Indian T20 League 2022, the spin bowling coach of the Hyderabad team, Muttiah Muralitharan opened up on the reason for not retaining Rashid Khan. In a conversation during the match, he said – “We didn’t want to get rid of Rashid Khan. We couldn’t afford him.”

Speaking of the Indian T20 League 2022, Hyderabad began its journey in every wrong way possible. They lost their first two matches but came back on track with two consecutive wins in the next two games. Rashid Khan’s new team Gujarat, on the other hand, is having a great time in the tournament. They have on three of their first four matches and are ranked fourth in the points table.

Hyderabad will play their next match against Kolkata on Friday, 15^th of April, while Gujarat’s next match will be against Rajasthan on Thursday.