MUMBAI: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has jokingly chided Indian cricket fans that his country is not giving Rashid Khan “away”. Such has been the 19-year-old’s impact on the Indian Premier League that Indian fans, already spoilt with homegrown talent, have been awestruck by a player from a non-traditional cricket country.
If Rashid tied Chennai Super Kings batsmen in knots in Qualifier 1, he raised the roof at Eden Garden with 34 off 10 balls, which proved key in Qualifier 2, and followed it up with 3/19 to lead SunRisers Hyderabad to a 14-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders. Rashid has modelled his game on Shahid Afridi and it was a performance the Pakistani would have been proud of.
The Afghan leg-spinner, labelled the “Best T20 bowler” by Sachin Tendulkar, might be Hyderabad’s key to unlocking Chennai’s dominance in the final to be played on Sunday. The teams have met thrice this season, and Chennai have come out on top every time.
While a lot may depend on Rashid, the 2016 champions will hope to get their act together with the bat. They are overly-dependent on Kane Williamson.
It seems only fair that Sunday’s final will see a face-off between the coolest of captains in the IPL.
Williamson, thrust into the role after David Warner was dropped due to the ball-tampering controversy, has been the batting mainstay and moulded the unit into the most potent bowling attack in the league. They are the only team to have taken 100 wickets this season.
“I’m not sure that I agree that T20 cricket is totally a batsman’s game,” said Hyderabad coach Tom Moody on the eve of the final.
“We played on a number of varied wickets throughout the tournament and we’ve managed to adjust pretty effectively with Kane’s leadership with regards to how he used those bowlers throughout the 20 overs.”
His opposite number, MS Dhoni, is not only one of India’s most popular captains, but a popularly ‘lucky’ one too. And that aura has stayed with him in Chennai’s anxious re-entry into the IPL after a two-year ban. The Men in Yellow scripted some great escapes at the start of the season, including one against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in the opening match.
They may be one of the older teams, but that also means heaps of experience, especially in winning. Dhoni himself has led the team to championships in 2010 and 2011 and they have some international veterans like Faf du Plessis, who is hitting form at the right time, Dwayne Bravo and Harbhajan Singh.
“The age-group of the boys was definitely a concern as we had to keep them fit because of the frequency of the games. You have to manoeuvre your resources and you have to look at the bigger picture,” said Dhoni on Saturday.
“Our fans waited a very long time for this moment.”All is usually not fair in sport. But this IPL it is just as well that the two teams which finished at the top of the league table have eventually progressed to the summit clash.
deepti@newindianexpress.com