He was not much of a wicket taker: Brian Lara on former World No 1

Sunrisers Hyderabad stunned everyone with their decision to release Rashid Khan heading into the mega auction prior to IPL 2022. During his stint with SRH, the spin maestro from Afghanistan picked 93 wickets in his 76 appearances at a superb economy of 6.33 and thus, scripted some memorable victories for the Orange Army. So, his exclusion from the retention list was weird for the cricketing fraternity. 

However, the current batting coach of SRH, Brian Lara, has justified Rashid's exclusion by giving a controversial statement that the genius tweaker wasn't a wicket-taker for SRH. The former West Indies captain claimed that most of the teams aimed at playing out Rashid's four overs safely, which made him a defensive option. 

"I have great respect for Rashid Khan, but I believe we have the right combination. Rashid Khan was someone who opposition teams decided to defend against. He was not much of a wicket-taker," Lara said after SRH's emphatic victory against RCB. 

The Prince of Trinidad further admitted that the SRH management is satisfied with having the spin trio of Washington Sundar, Jagadeesha Suchith and Shreyas Gopal. He termed Sundar and Suchith as SRH's valuable assets and argued that SRH also have Gopal, who has a hat-trick to his name in the IPL. Thus, the former West Indies legend clarified that they aren't too concerned with their spin department as they have ample options. 

"I think when you have a guy like Washington Sundar spinning the ball into the left-handers in the first six overs, He is an asset. Suchith has come in as his replacement due to injury, and he is an asset as well", Lara said. "We have gone in with four fast bowlers every single game so far. But, of course, the pitches may change. They may have less grass later on. We also have Shreyas Gopal, though he hasn't had a game so far. He is also someone who has a hat-trick in the IPL. So I still think we have a lot in the reserves to show the IPL, and I am not too worried", the 52-year-old concluded. 

Despite having a poor start to its campaign with two successive defeats, the franchise have managed to bounce back and win its next five games. The remarkable comeback has taken them to the second spot in the points table, and they will play their next match against the table-toppers Gujarat Titans this Wednesday (27th April).