After getting an emphatic 55-run victory over five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Titans' leg-spinner Rashid Khan stated that Tuesday's win was very significant for the defending champions as they had lost their last two matches on their home ground Narendra Modi Stadium.
Gujarat had begun IPL 2023 with a five-wicket victory over four-time champions Chennai Super Kings at home. But they had to face losses at home to Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals on the back of some belligerent hitting in the fag end of the innings by Rinku Singh and Shimron Hetmyer respectively.
"The feeling was good as we got the right start, and our boys took the responsibility and scored a good total (207) in the first innings. This victory was very significant as we lost the last two matches at home," said Rashid after receiving the purple cap from his teammate Mohammed Shami, in a video posted by IPL.
In the match, Shubman Gill top-scored with 56. But late blitzs from David Miller (46) and Abhinav Manohar (42) ensured Gujarat reached its highest-ever total --207/6-- in their history of IPL. In reply, Shami and Hardik Pandya bowled with precision in the powerplay to keep Mumbai at 29/1.
"After we got partnerships with the bat, the way you (Shami) started in the bowling when we had 208 runs to defend and opposition have just scored 24-25 runs in six overs, the credit goes to you. The way you (Shami) and Hardik started, we got momentum in the middle through the spinners," Rashid told Shami.
Rashid then took 2/27 and along with fellow Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmad taking 3/37, dismantled Mumbai's middle-order and restricted them to 152/9.
'We had to take advantage of the great start we had with the ball. With the fall of wickets in PowerPlay, the required run-rate increased to almost 13-14 and let the batters make the mistake. The mindset of me and Noor (Ahmad) was to not attack much with the ball and bowl in the right areas and force the batters to make a mistake," added Rashid.
Talking about his plan in the first six overs, Shami said, "When you are starting for your team, it's very critical to know the right area, maintain your rhythm, and control your line and length.
The plan was the same as the team is discussing to give as few runs as possible in power play, as it supports our gameplan really well. We then have spinners in the middle and for death overs too, so I put complete focus on what I can do as per my role."
Shami further advised young fast bowlers to focus on fitness and keeping things simple while playing T20 cricket.
"First is to focus on your fitness; sometimes the vision and what you think adds more pressure than the format. What I would advise is rather than thinking about so many things, if you just work on your line and length, that would be helpful," the pacer said.
"It doesn't matter if you have the red, white or pink ball; if your ball is pitching in the right area, then it will help you to get more wickets. So, most important is your rhythm and bowling area," he added.
Gujarat's next match in IPL 2023 will be against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Saturday afternoon.
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