“He is the best in the business” – Brad Hogg explains how teams can overcome GT’s Rashid Khan in IPL 2023

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has labeled Gujarat Titans’ (GT) Rashid Khan as one of the most lethal spinners in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The 52-year-old reckoned that attacking GT bowlers in the powerplay overs is the only option for batters to reduce Khan's impact on the game.

In a video uploaded to his Instagram account, Hogg said:

“Teams out there, if you gonna have a chance of beating the Gujarat Titans this year, attack pace very early on and try and get Hardik Pandya to bowl Rashid Khan one or two overs in the powerplay phase because overs 7-15, he is best in the business. Best economy rate and picks up wickets to quieten the opposition batting line-up.”

The statement comes as the 24-year-old finished with figures of 3/31 and 2/26 against Delhi Capitals (DC) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), respectively. GT went on to win both their first two games.

The Afghanistan-born leg spinner was retained for ₹15 crore ahead of IPL 2023. So far, he has scalped 117 wickets in 94 IPL games at an economy rate of 6.39.

Besides bowling exploits, Rashid is also a handy lower-order batter. He scored an unbeaten 10 off just three balls against CSK as GT won their IPL 2023 opener by five wickets.

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Brad Hogg explains what makes Rashid Khan a deadly spinner

Brad Hogg further explained that the combination of drift, turn, and bounce makes Rashid Khan a deadly spinner.

He warned batters not to sweep against him but to stick to classic shots like pulls and cuts to score runs off his bowling.

He said:

“The reason is that he is the quickest, most accurate spinner going around. He gets a lot of drift and drop and spins the bowl both ways. Because of the pace, he just turns it enough. Create a little bit of doubt in the batsman’s mind, so they don’t wanna charge in. They are playing for the crease.”

Hogg added:

“If you wanna play him off the back foot, play the pulls and cuts, very difficult as well because he attacks the stumps, and he’s always hitting the top of the stumps. So, a huge risk to play those types of shots, and if you try and sweep him, he gets that extra bounce as well.”

Rashid Khan will next be seen in action against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, April 9. The defending champions GT will now look to complete a hat-trick of wins in IPL 2023.