9 crores for Rashid Khan was a fair price: Tom Moody

Young Afghanistan spin sensation Rashid Khan was amongst the top players targetted by franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 auction. He is without a doubt one of the top leg-spinners with the ability to scalp wickets irrespective of the pitch and conditions. It was expected that most teams would want to rope him in and would thus trigger an intense bidding. Something similar happened and his price went as high as 9 crores but his original team Sunrisers Hyderabad didn’t want to let him go and used their RTM card to buy him back.

The 19-year-old had lived up to his lofty standards in the 2017 edition of the IPL and has been just getting better since which meant not just SRH all other teams looking for a leg-spinner would bid for him. It was an interesting piece of business as Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) initially beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) with a bid of Rs 9 crore, but then Hyderabad used their Right to Match (RTM) card to retain him.

9 crores was a fair price

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the ESPNcricinfo, SRH coach Tom Moody talked about the side’s retention strategy and the balance of the squad at the end of the auction. However, when quizzed about Rashid’s price, the Australian stated, ‘9 crores was a fair price’ for the Afghan cricketer.

The leg-spinner has already picked 112 wickets in his young international career. Heralded for his unplayable googlies, the youngster first came into limelight during a game against West Indies last year in June when he picked 7 wickets for just 18 runs.

He also became the first cricketer from his nation to feature in the IPL last year, where he played for the SRH franchise alongside senior pro Mohammad Nabi. He played 14 games in the last season, picking up 17 wickets at an impressive economy of 6.63.

Rashid has been a hot property around the globe in the T20 format. He has produced some eye-catching performances in the world’s top T20 leagues, the most recent being in BBL 07 where he represents the Adelaide Strikers.

The star player was also named ICC Associate Cricketer of 2017. With so many accolades to his name, it’s easy to forget Rashid is just 19-year-old. He has shown tremendous potential and if he succeeds in keeping himself humble, he can certainly evolve into one of the greats of the game.