Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Champions are never easily written off. Rashid Khan offered a sharp reminder of that at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday night, producing a spell of old quality as Gujarat Titans edged Delhi Capitals by one run in a high-scoring thriller.For some time, doubts had swirled around Rashid. That he was on the decline. That batters had decoded him. After two modest IPL seasons by his standards, the questions were understandable.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!His numbers underlined the slump. Rashid took nine wickets from 15 matches for Gujarat Titans last season at an average of 57.1. The year before was only slightly better. For a bowler who built his reputation on control, menace and certainty, it marked a clear dip.So there was little surprise when Rashid interrupted the opening question in his post-match interaction, which was about last season. “Don’t remind me yaar, it was very bad,” he said, before explaining that his struggles over the last two years were linked to a back surgery he had delayed in order to play in the 2023 ODI World Cup.“I think I pushed myself a lot in that World Cup and after that, it was really bad. I was not able to walk after the tournament,” he added. That made his effort against Delhi Capitals stand out even more.On a surface that offered little help to bowlers, Rashid was the one man who broke the flow. He finished with 3/17 from four overs and halted Capitals just when the chase was gathering pace. Introduced in the fifth over, he first hinted at his touch by beating KL Rahul with a leg-break that drifted in and then spun away.He then changed the game in his third over. Nitish Rana failed to read the wrong ’un and miscued to Sai Sudharsan at long-off. The next ball was even better — a googly that completely deceived Sameer Rizvi and bowled him for a golden duck. Rashid later removed Axar Patel as well, leaving Capitals off balance in a chase they had seemed to control.“After long, I got such a wicket (Rizvi’s). As a leg-spinner, you want that kind of delivery, where you beat the batter. I’m quite happy, it gave me so much confidence. I feel in the last two games, I bowled well,” Rashid said.The leg-spinner credited his return to improved fitness. “That surgery affected my bowling action, the release and everything. After having a bad season (in 2025) I thought, ‘Ok, what’s wrong now?’ I felt like it was the whole rhythm, from starting to the finishing.”“I gave myself a couple of months after the last IPL. I had a good Hundred competition in the UK. I focused on my fitness. That’s something which I can improve and allows my body to bowl with full rhythm,” he said.No Tests for nowAfghanistan are scheduled to play a one-off Test against India in the first week of June and it is highly unlikely that Rashid will take the field. “Red-ball looks a bit difficult for me. The first thing my doctor told me (after surgery) was to stay away from it. I still bowled 67 overs against Zimbabwe, which was crazy! I’ll just take it easy. Imagine something happens to my back in a Test,” he said.
