Gujarat Titans’ Rashid Khan sheds light on processes ahead of IPL 2022 final vs Rajasthan Royals

Rashid Khan has bowled economically all through IPL 2022. The Gujarat Titans leg-spinner is currently ninth in the purple cap list with 18 wickets in 15 games. His economy rate of 6.73 rpo is sixth best this season. 

The Afghan will be in action when the Gujarat Titans take on the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2022 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday. 

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Khan, ahead of the big, day shed light on his mid-set and processes the team has followed this season. The 23-year-old said that he understands that batters have tried to go all defensive on him and his miserly overs help the bowlers at the other end. 

“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.

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Rashid Khan further added that he wants to hit a particular area consistently. 

“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 differently. My objective is to build pressure,” Khan said at the pre-final press conference.

The Afghanistan national has also come up as a useful batting commodity this season. He has hit nine sixes and batted at a strike rate of more than 206. 

“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.

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He in fact practises a lot at the nets.

“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.