I recommended Rashid Khan for SRH because of his pace, reveals Tom Moody

I recommended Rashid Khan for SRH because of his pace, reveals Tom Moody

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Rashid was picked by SRH in 2017 IPL auction

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BCCI

Tom Moody has revealed how Sunrisers Hyderabad landed the ultimate coup in the form of Rashid Khan, who he recommended because of the pace the leg-spinner was bowling with. However, Moody stated that he was not sure if Rashid would be overawed by the big stage of the Indian Premier League.

After making his ODI debut at the age of 17, Rashid Khan fetched the highest ever bid for an Associate player in the IPL Auction when he was snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 4 crore. Since then he hasn’t looked back at all, with him having picked 55 wickets while becoming the mainstay of the SRH line-up. 

In January 2018, he almost doubled his price when the Sunrisers reclaimed him at auction for INR 9 crore, making him a global superstar.  Former Sunrisers coach Tom Moody, who was the major architect of the deal, stated that the team’s need for a leg-spinner, coupled with Rashid’s consistency in pace convinced him to go for the Afghan.

"I was very keen on getting a wrist spinner. I knew that wrist spinners were clearly having an impact in the game. Bowlers that can spin the ball both ways - whether it's a wrist spinner or the finger spinner who can bowl the doosra. I spoke to the analyst - told him to look domestically and look internationally and try to find a number of options for us to explore,” Moody told Harsha Bhogle in a Cricbuzz chat show.

“Over a period of time, we went through video after video of various options. Then I saw Rashid bowl. I told him, keep sending videos of , I need to have an understanding of what this guy is doing. Clearly no one does, especially those holding the bat. I made the recommendation on the basis the pace he bowled at, and the consistency he landed. 

While there have been many tales of players being overawed by the stage and the occasion, the original factor that they bring to the table often goes for a toss. Moody, as revealed by himself, was not sure if Rashid would face any obstacle on the way but a net session, where the leg-spinner bowled to David Warner, convinced the Aussie that they had actually unearthed a gem.

“Okay, the opposition he was bowling to was not IPL standard but what he was doing, he was doing incredibly consistently. So I felt it was a gamble worth taking purely on the basis that the only obstacle we had to face was whether he was going to be overawed by the IPL occasion and the big stage. But Rashid Khan turned out to be someone that welcomed the atmosphere and that pressure. The rest is history," he added.

" The very first net session in the camp before the first season he played, there were a few question marks about whether a kid from nowhere can suddenly step up and command the attention he did in the auction and then deliver on the big stage. I got a couple of our senior players including David Warner to face him and within 20 minutes I realised we picked a gem. His level of competitiveness in that the net scenario was to me 'right this kid is ready to go'. He is not worried about who he is bowling to. He is delivering so consistently," Moody noted.

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