‘You’ve Got To Bring In Your Match-Winners…’: Former CSK Player on Where Rashid Khan Should Bowl for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2025

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) player Robin Uthappa believes that Gujarat Titans (GT) spinner Rashid Khan should be introduced to the bowling attack much earlier during matches in IPL 2025. The Afghanistan spinner as endured an underwhelming start to IPL 2025, picking just one wicket from four matches so far. Ever since Gujarat Titans made their IPL debut in 2022, Rashid Khan has been the backbone of the team’s spin bowling department.

One of the reasons for Rashid’s inability to take wickets this season has been because of the fact that he has been often introduced in the latter half of an innings. Take the game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for example. Rashid was introduced in the 12th over and ended up enduring forgettable figures of 0/54 in four overs.

Robin Uthappa on where GT should use Rashid Khan

“I think they’re (Gujarat Titans) are using him way later than they should be using a bowler like him. I reckon someone who is considered the best leg-spinner in the world should be bowling your seventh or eighth over. I think he is coming on sometimes in the 10th over, sometimes as late as the 15th over. They have gone in the direction of using him as a death bowler,” Uthappa said during a chat with cricket expert Jarrod Kimber during the KimAppa Show.

“I think that from my observation, that doesn’t agree with Rashid Khan the bowler and the enigma that he is gets into the game. You’ve got to bring your match-winners into the game when it’s actually primed for them to come into the game. Because they create situations, they create instances of the game that change the direction of the game, or get so much momentum going your way that you’ve closed the match there,” he added.

Robin Uthappa suggests a solution for Rashid Khan

The 39-year-old suggested splitting Rashid Khan’s spells into two halves if they plan to use him in the death overs.

“If they are going to use Rashid as their death overs bowler, then I think you have to use him in two spells— seven and nine (overs), or eight and 10, and then 17 and 19. You can’t use him in a situation where he has bowled 13,15,17,19 overs or something like that wherein he is starting itself at the backend of the game. Fifty-five percent of the match is already done, you can’t expect a match-winner to come out and perform like he has performed before,” explained the former Karnataka batter.

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Rashid Khan’s best season with Gujarat Titans was in IPL 2023, when he finished with 27 wickets from 17 matches. He had also played a crucial role in Titans’ title-winning campaign in IPL 2022, taking 19 wickets from 16 matches.

Gujarat Titans are currently in second place with six points from four matches, having beaten Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday. The Shubman Gill-led side will next lock horns against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in a home game on Wednesday.

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