IPL 2021: Sunil Gavaskar lauds spinner Adil Rashid, calls him 'very very clever bowler'

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for Punjab Kings’ spinner Adil Rashid and said that he is surprised that the 33-year-old spinner wasn’t part of any Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise until the 2021 season. Rashid was roped in by PBKS in the 2021 season as a replacement for Australian pacer Jhye Richardson. He made his IPL debut in match no. 32 of IPL against RR, and returned wicket-less after conceding 35 runs in three overs. He didn’t play the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday but is expected to come back and contribute to the PBKS bowling line-up.

Meanwhile, Gavaskar on the eve of the match between PBKS and SRH lauded Rashid for being a clever bowler citing his performance for England in limited-overs international cricket.

While talking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said that Rashid is a clever bowler and as seen in limited-overs international cricket, he varies his deliveries nicely. Gavaskar added that the spinner bowls different lines to both left-handers and right-handers, taking the ball away from them. He further added that Rashid’s line of delivery, makes batsmen hit the bowl towards the sky as they go against the turn while looking for big hits.

Gavaskar further talking about Rashid, said, “He's a very clever bowler, Adil Rashid. We have seen him in limited-overs international. He varies the deliveries nicely. He bowls a different line to the left-hander, different to the right-hander taking the ball away from them so that if they are looking for a big hit, they would want to hit it against the turn so that would sky the ball in the air”.

Ravi Bishnoi takes three wickets during Punjab Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad

On the match front on Saturday, PBKS won against SRH in a low-scoring match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. PBKS set a target of 126 runs for SRH and successfully defended it to win the match by five runs. In the absence of Adil Rashid, spinner Ravi Bishnoi picked up the most, three wickets for PBKS while Mohammed Shami dismissed two batters and Arshdeep Singh sent one batter back to the pavilion. With the win against SRH, PBKS found their fourth win in ten matches and reached the fifth position in IPL 2021 points table. 

(Instagram Image: @punjabkingsipl/BCCI/PTI)