Gujarat Titans (GT) bowling all-rounder Rashid Khan put on a valiant show in IPL 2023 match against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday, May 12, in Mumbai. His all-round performance went in vain as MI eventually won the match by 27 runs.
MI batted first in the contest and reached a massive score of 218/5 on the back of a scintillating century from Suryakumar Yadav. Rashid Khan was the lone ranger for GT in the bowling department as he picked up four wickets in his four-over spell.
In reply, the GT batting unit had an off day as they got reduced to 103/8 in 13.2 overs and stared at a heavy loss. However, Rashid Khan (79* off 32 balls) went on carnage and smashed the MI bowlers all over the park. His blistering knock comprised 10 sixes and three fours. The Afghanistan star single-handedly took GT to 191/8 in 20 overs and minimized the losing deficit.
Fans were in awe of Rashid Khan's spectacular performances in both departments against MI. They heaped praise on him through their reactions on Twitter. Here are some of them:
"Full marks for the way he batted and bowled on this surface": Hardik Pandya on Rashid Khan
Speaking after the conclusion of the match, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya pointed out that only Rashid Khan turned up for the contest on Friday. He lauded the Afghan all-rounder for his scintillating performance and opined that his knock ensured they did not lose by a massive deficit.
"It felt like he [Rashid] was the only one who turned up from our team. Full marks for the way he batted and bowled on this surface. We don't have to try too much. As a group, we weren't there in all departments today. We didn't have clear plans and didn't execute them. We gave 25 runs extra and it was only because of Rashid's innings that we didn't lose this by a bigger margin."
Pandya also gave credit to Suryakumar Yadav for playing a splendid knock:
"[SKY] People have spoken about him. I feel he's one of the best batters around in T20 cricket and when he gets going, he's so difficult to stop. Surya played an incredible knock and all credit to him but we lacked heart and execution tonight. We were quite flat intensity-wise and expected things to happen but everyone knows, at this level you can't wait and have to make things happen."
Gujarat Titans will next face Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 15 in Ahmedabad.
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