Thinking about playoffs will put more pressure: Rashid Khan

Speaking about his performance, he said, “After bowling the first ball, where I got a wicket, I knew there was something for me in the pitch. So I wanted to bowl in the right areas and that helped me.”

Hyderabad: Sunrisers Hyderabad’s premium bowler Rashid Khan came up with another superlative performance bowling the most economical spell (3/7 in 4 overs) in Indian Premier League in side’s thumping 88-run victory over Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.

Propelled by Wriddhiman Saha’s 87-run knock and birthday boy captain David Warner’s 66-run innings, SRH posted a massive 219/2 in 20 overs. Later, they restricted Capitals to 131 in 19 overs. This win helped them stay in the hunt for a berth in the playoffs. However, even if they win their remaining matches, qualification is not guaranteed as they have to pray for favourable results from other matches.

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However, Rashid revealed they don’t want to think about playoffs. “We are not focused on what is going to happen. We need to focus on what we need to do on our next game. Whoever gets an opportunity, just needs to go out there and express and give their best. Forget qualification. Thinking about it can put extra pressure on us. We want to take one game at a time and enjoy,” added the lggie from Afghanistan.

Speaking about his performance, he said, “After bowling the first ball, where I got a wicket, I knew there was something for me in the pitch. So I wanted to bowl in the right areas and that helped me.” He also lauded Warner and Saha for the attacking innings that helped them to a big total. “I think he (Warner) has done a good job in the tournament so far. Sometimes you need to be aggressive and sometimes you have to play according to situation. He plays according to what the team needs, not what he needs. And we knew about Saha. We have seen him bat in the IPL. Today he grabbed his chance. He had that self-belief. He knew he could play long innings,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Capitals’ coach Ricky Ponting said they have to reset quickly. “We had a rough idea on how many points we need to qualify before the tournament. We got seven wins quickly but lost three games in a row. We have to reset quickly. We got two big games coming up and need to change things quickly. The last two games haven’t been ideal,” added the Australian.

He opined that SRH ran away with the powerplay. “77/0 in powerplay was a big score. They (Warner and Saha) played beautifully. When they get that start, it is hard to pull things back. We have a bit of work to do not just with the ball but with bat and field.”

On asked whether he was surprised to see Saha open the innings and play such a knock, he added, “We were expecting Saha to open. We were ready for that and we had a good chat before the game. We had plans for Saha and Kane (Williamson). But Saha played beautifully and he surprised me with his knock. His was the difference in the end.”

On sending captain Shreyas Iyer to bat at No.6, he said, “With (Ajinkya) Rahane and (Shikhar) Dhawan at top, we wanted to match SRH in the powerplay. So we sent Marcus Stoinis. He was in good form. And With Hetmyer batting at No.4, Iyer had to come at six,” he concluded.

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