Gujarat Titans locked in a top-two finish with a 96-run drubbing of Chennai Super Kings, and Rashid Khan walked off the field – and later the press room – feeling, in his words, “Ekdum majama [absolutely fine]”.
The leg-spinner had just ripped through CSK’s lower middle order, taking 3 for 18 in two overs to jump to fourth on the Purple Cap table (the tournament’s wicket tally). Two lean IPL seasons had prompted chatter about whether he was still the banker of old; Thursday night in Ahmedabad offered a sharp counter-argument.
“If I do well, if I don’t do well, I know what makes me a better bowler and what makes me a better bowler is to hit the right area consistently,” Rashid said before the game, setting out the simple plan that still drives him.
Key facts
• Titans 229 for 5, CSK 133 all out – Titans guarantee a Qualifier 1 spot
• Rashid: 2-0-18-3, including the wickets of Shivam Dube, Anshul Kamboj and Matheesha Pathirana
• Now 19 wickets for the season, only three behind the current leader
How the spell unfolded
By the time Rashid entered, CSK were 109 for 5 and chasing ghosts. His first over was untidy – a straight half-volley to Dube sailed into the second tier, and Anshul Kamboj repeated the treatment. Figures read 1-0-14-1. “In this game, when you’re defending 230, you will go for runs. It’s not something like you’re going to bowl 18 to 20 dot balls,” he explained later. “The batter is going after you… For that length, line was so important.”
Second over, different story. Pace a touch quicker, length that fraction shorter, and the wrong ’un angled across Pathirana clipped off stump. CSK never recovered; Rashid’s evening was done.
Perspective from the numbers
It is easy to forget he is still only 27. His 721 T20 wickets remain unmatched; next best, Dwayne Bravo, sits 90 back. In T20Is the gap is similar – 193 for Rashid, 165 for Ish Sodhi. Raw volume is only half the picture, though. Those wickets arrive through method rather than mystery, built on a repeatable action and a mind that rarely drifts.
“You have good days, bad days, and I feel [the way] you manage yourself on good days, you have to know how to manage yourself on bad days as well,” Rashid said. “Whenever I had a bad day, I never put that too much in the mind… if you keep doing well, you don’t have any bad days, I don’t think so, you can learn a lot.”
The worst day – and the lesson
He still gets asked about 18 June 2019, the World Cup afternoon when England took 110 off his nine overs. “On that day in 2019 [against England in the ODI World Cup], it was one of the days for me where I gave more than 100 runs in nine overs [9-0-110-0]… you can’t really change your action or pace but it’s just about the one thing you can do: hit the right area consistently. I feel like in that game I just missed my line and length. And I just kept myself little bit focuse”. That spelling-mistake-of-a-sentence sums him up: honest, unvarnished and always pointing back to process.
Why GT’s bowling unit helps
This season, having Mohit Sharma’s death-over craft, Spencer Johnson’s high pace and the metronomic Sandeep Warrier has allowed Rashid to operate almost exclusively through the middle. As former India opener Wasim Jaffer put it on the broadcast, “GT bowl in packs – the seamers create the squeeze and Rashid applies the choke.” The formula is familiar but brutally effective.
Room for improvement?
The control is back, but the googly still sits around the 85–86 kph mark, a couple of clicks slower than in his pomp. On truer pitches, that can be the difference between a leading edge to point and a steepling six into row G. He knows it, too. Expect plenty of work on the resistance band over the next fortnight.
What next
Titans, secure in the top two, can afford a light shuffle in their final league match. Rashid, though, looks unlikely to rest. He likes rhythm, he enjoys bowling, and – as he keeps reminding teammates – the only way to stay in form is to stay on the park.
So, same routine, same run-up, same whirling arms. Manage the bad days like the good ones. And, when the microphones appear, one more grin and an “Ekdum majama”.
