"Chahal has been one of the most consistent performers for India as well as for RCB" - Rashid Khan 

Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal in conversation during the IPL
Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal in conversation during the IPL

Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has named the best spinners among his peers in the circuit. He spoke about the 6 spinners that he enjoys watching bowl in the T20 format, with Yuzvendra Chahal being the first name on the list.

Rashid Khan heaped praise on Chahal and termed him a consistent performer for both franchise and country over the years. While speaking to The Cricket Monthly, Rashid said:

"One is Yuzvendra Chahal. He has been one of the most consistent performers for India as well as for RCB."

Despite Chahal's credentials, he failed to find a spot in India's T20 World Cup squad. The likes of Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy made the cut ahead of him as specialist spinners.

Among the youngsters, he rated Ravi Bishnoi the most and recalled a conversation he had with the young Punjab Kings star. He added:

"The young guy I love watching is [Ravi] Bishnoi. He has improved so much [since the 2020 IPL]. We had a discussion last year during the IPL on bowling line and length and other stuff. We met this year at the IPL as well and he told me straightaway: "I have worked on those things you told me and it is helping a lot."

He also reserved praise for the likes of Shadab Khan, Ish Sodhi, Adam Zampa and Imran Tahir.

Virat Kohli is pretty hard to bowl to: Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan explained how there are two different kinds of batsmen and bowling to each type is a challenge of its own. He named Kohli as an example, who will try to hit in the gaps and among the other group of batsmen lie the power hitters like Pollard and Pandya. Apart from Kohli, he named Babar Azam and Kane Williamson as tough batsmen to bowl to. He added:

"The batsmen who try to hit you in the gap, like Virat Kohli, are pretty hard to bowl to. As soon as he finds out that this ball is a bit off length or a loose ball, he is going to hit you in the gap."
"The hard hitters might just block you and might want to get off strike or just play a dot ball. But Kohli will either get two or a boundary. Kane Williamson and Babar Azam are similar. These three batsmen are harder to bowl against because you have to be accurate against them - bowl the perfect line and length"

Among the pinchhitters, he claimed any full delivery against the likes of Hardik Pandya, Andre Russell and Kieron Pollard will be punished and on the other hand, they will look to block good length deliveries.

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Edited by S Chowdhury