Cricket news - It feels good to be called an all-rounder: Rashid Khan

On May 25, 2018 when Rashid Khan walked out to bat in front of a packed Eden Gardens crowd, not many cricket pundits anticipated the kind of blitzkrieg that was to unfold in the final two overs. With only 13 balls and four wickets remaining in the innings, SRH needed something special to lift them to a competitive total. 'Rashid Khan, ah, a legspinner! What can he do with the bat?' many thought. What followed, however, was an absolute delight.

Rashid Khan | Balls faced 10 | Runs scored 34 | 2 fours 4 sixes|

It wasn't until that point many believed in Rashid Khan's batting ability. SRH would eventually win that game by 14 runs, thanks to Rashid's all-round heroics. Fast forward a year later (March 29, 2019), Rajasthan Royals almost felt the tremors of Rashid Khan, the batsman, who sealed the highest successful run-chase by SRH with a Dhoni-like Helicopter maximum over square leg. There were quite a few notable contributions with the bat for Afghanistan and in the Big Bash in between, but Rashid's ever-hungry attitude to up his game in all departments has worked wonders for him and the team.

Speaking to Cricbuzz regarding his all-round credentials, Rashid said: "It feels good to be called an all-rounder. I have been always working hard on my batting. When I came to the national side in 2016, I was telling Inzamam bhai (the then Afghanistan coach) that I was a proper batsman, but he was not believing that. I had that thing in my mind that I will work hard and I have the skill. I just need to be working hard on my batting. One day will come and I can be very handy for the team"

Rashid also chorused the opinion of many modern-day T20 batsmen by acknowledging that he is happy to bat at any position in the team. "I'm happy with any number. Wherever they send me, I just need to play my natural game and just express my skills and not think about the position a lot," he said.

Rashid also shed light on one of the most pivotal aspects of his game on how to handle pressure. "When pressure comes, I always try to make a movie in my mind (anticipate positively) and release my pressure and make the best move for myself which makes me happy and helps me perform well."

Buttler was in scintillating form in IPL with six half-centuries in his last seven innings and it needed a special delivery to dislodge the English keeper-batsman. Speaking of the delivery that knocked Buttler's leg peg, Rashid said, "Before the game I make a movie in my mind when the captain told me that you need to come and bowl from this end (in the game against RR). In the next hour I made a movie in my mind of how to bowl to Buttler and get him out... bowled or, leg before or caught at slip. That's how I got him.

"If I had this thing in my mind that he will hit me here and there automatically he would have hit me, so that movie really helps me. I make myself a hero in that and tell myself look I need to bowl there and that's how it happens in the middle. Same thing happens in the batting as well. Before coming out to the wicket, I was fed up and I was thinking how it would be if I hit the winning shot for six and that's like a helicopter shot. It was happening in my mind. I was repeating those things in my mind that I will hit this if I get the opportunity to go there and play."

The 20-year-old also highlighted the significance of having a positive mindset in the middle. "If I bowl a bad delivery, anybody can hit me and if I bowl a good delivery, that will be a good delivery for anyone. As I said before, I always make a positive movie in my mind and that's how it is working for me. When I think in a negative way, it automatically happens with me and that's why I always try to make a positive movie in my mind. I have enough control to bowl in a good length area, so that is an advantage. I hardly bowl any loose balls. So if I'm not bowling loose balls why should I think about getting hit for a six?" he said.

The SRH mystery bowler also rated IPL as the best league in the world and narrated various reasons for the same. "There is a big difference between IPL and other leagues. IPL is on top of all the leagues and you will find all eleven best players in the team and you won't be relaxed when you get 5-6 wickets and you will be like still 4-5 to go and these are the kind of batsmen who can smash any bowler, any time and I thank the coaching staff and the management all over. It has been the best so far I have ever played. It's the most enjoyable cricket I play here, especially the fans here the way they love their cricketers and the way they support the teams, it's superb and performing in front of them gives you a lot of energy and a lot of motivation and confidence as well."