The Hundred | Bowling 10 balls in a row gives me the opportunity to take three hat-tricks, quips Rashid KhanÂ
Rashid in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad
|IPL
Trent Rockets star Rashid Khan has stated that he's all excited for the Hundred competition and reckons he can take three hat-tricks when he gets to bowl 10 balls in a row. He also added that in the 100-ball competition, a bowlers will need to apply pressure on the batters to come out on top.
Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan is one of the greatest leg-spinners of all time in T20 cricket. The 22-year-old has ample experience in the shortest format, having played 267 games and picked up 371 wickets with a miserly ER of 6.28. Arguably the best leg-spinner in the world, it is going to be exciting to see how he fares in the inaugural edition of the Hundred with his side Trent Rockets taking on Southern Brave on July 24 in Nottingham.Â
Reflecting on the new format of the competition, Afghanistan's newly-inducted T20I skipper claimed that the format of the tournament will allow him to bowl 10 balls in a row, which he feels is good enough to scalp three hat-tricks.Â
"I'm super excited about bowling ten balls in a row. It kind of gives you an opportunity to take ten wickets straight away, and three hat-tricks. That's an advantage we have, but you can also be hit for ten sixes as well, or give 50 runs away in just ten balls," Rashid stated, reported ESPN Cricinfo.
Rashid also reckoned that The Hundred is a format where one needs to put pressure on the batters than try and attack them as it will open up more chances of taking a wicket.
"In this format, I think the more you look to put the pressure on the batsman, that's the time they give you the wicket, rather than trying to attack to get his wicket. As long as you're putting the pressure on by bowling the dot balls, that gives you the wickets as well. It mostly depends on the conditions, and the situation of the game as well, but if a batsman is struggling against any bowler then, definitely, the opposition captain will want to have those ten balls by that bowler to keep the pressure on."
Rashid Khan was the No. 1 pick at the original Hundred draft in 2019 and talking about that, the right-arm leggie stated that it was a proud moment for him.
"It was a huge, proud moment for me and for my country, to be someone from Afghanistan and to be the first pick in this competition. I'm so lucky, and I think what I have done in the last five-and-a-half years made it possible."
Trent Bridge is one of the most difficult venues to bowl in the United Kingdom, due to the flat wickets on offer. However, Rashid feels that, regardless of conditions, bowling is all about self-belief and bringing skills into play.Â
"As a spinner, if you have those things in your mind, that the wicket is flat, the boundary short, I think it doesn't help you," Khan said. "What helps is that you bring your own skills and your own experience to the game, rather than to think about those things, which is not in our control.
"Whatever it is, as long as I'm hitting the right area, and backing up my skills and my talent, I think I can deliver for the team. Your best delivery is your best delivery for any batsman around the world. That's why it has written on the wicket [on the TV analysis], 'good length'. As long as you're hitting that area, that gives you the maximum right result."
