Don’t think oppositions have worked Rashid out, he’s a great find for us: Tom Moody

Sunrisers Hyderabad are having a see-saw season this year. They have four wins from eight games but they haven’t played like a champion side. Defending their title this year, SRH have lost all their 3 away games with the fourth one being washed out at Bengaluru.

Rashid Khan has enjoyed a successful debut in the IPL. Playing his first tournament, the leggie has had a smooth integration in this mega-league. He was acquired for a whopping amount of Rs 4 crore, the pressure of expectations never got to the 18-year old Afghani. 10 wickets off 7 games at an economy rate of under 7 is indeed a great record in your first stint in the IPL.

Sunrisers coach Tom Moody was full of praises for the young leg-spinner. “He is a terrific find for us and he is great for the tournament for a number of reasons. It’s nice to have a young leg-spinner doing what he is doing,” Moody said ahead of his team’s IPL match against Kings XI Punjab here tomorrow.

“Rashid’s success is also great for Afghanistan and for cricket as a whole,” the Australian said.

Rashid has bowled well inside the fielding restrictions and has picked a wicket in most games early on. His weapon has been the googly which many batsmen have failed to pick.

“He took 1-17 in the last game (against Rising Pune Supergiant). For any spinner to take 1-17 in a high scoring game, I don’t think the opposition has worked him out. I still think he is a major threat and he will continue to do well,” Moody said about Rashid, who hails from Nangrhar province in Afghanistan.

SRH will now travel to Mohali to play against Kings XI Punjab. This is a good game to change their abysmal away record but, as Moody said, they can’t afford to take the hosts lightly.

“Kings XI have changed their eleven more than a few times. So, its a fresh start for us, its not going to be the same eleven so that is also going to have an influence on our selection. At this point of the tournament, you would be foolish to take any team lightly,” Moody said.

Yuvraj Singh set the tournament alight with an attacking 62 but hasn’t fired after that. He missed two games due to illness and his participation in the Punjab game is still not sure.

“Look I have been really pleased with Yuvraj. He has certainly been striking the ball well,” he said.

“Unfortunately, he has been suffering from a flu. Hence, he missed a couple of games. Apart from that he looks in good shape, hitting the ball as well he has done for sometime.”

Kings XI and Sunrisers are at a point where both the teams are desperate to win a few games. The tournament is in the second phase and teams can’t afford to lose at this stage. Both teams are virtually competing against each other for a spot in the top four which makes this game even more important for both sides.