Rashid tipped to do well vs India
: Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Kane Williamson tipped Rashid Khan to come good in Afghanistan’s debut Test against India in June, complementing the young spinner as one of the best in the world.
“He’s a world-class player. We’ve seen that in this format but it’s great he’s going to be play some Test cricket and is a challenge but an enjoyable one because he’s up there with the top spinners in the game,” Williamson said after his side lost to Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in the IPL final on Sunday.
“It’s always a pleasure to face him at the nets and against him as well in the future. If the wicket’s responding, the full package (of) Rashid is great to have in the side.”
Williamson reiterated that Shane Watson, who slammed a 57-ball 117 to bring up his second century of this IPL, made all the difference.
“At the halfway stage on the surface, we thought we had a very competitive total. It wasn’t perhaps your usual surface at the Wankhede and it held a little bit and was responsive to the slower ball. So we thought that 180-mark was a really good target.
“From that point onwards, that innings of Watson got them to play and anyone who turns out with an innings of 100-plus in the final, it was obviously a significant effort and great contribution to their side and very difficult to stop, so a fantastic knock,” Williamson, who ended the tournament as the highest run-getter with 735 runs, said.
MUMBAI
FATIGUE NOT A FACTOR
He also didn’t want to cite fatigue as a factor given his side had to fly to Kolkata to play the Qualifier 2 against Kolkata Knight Riders and head back to Mumbai for the final.
“I suppose it gave us the opportunity after losing a semifinal to them and get back in the final. It required a fairly long flight to Kolkata, but that’s the nature of it. Whether it’s fair or whether it’s a good thing to do to play an extra game, and may be have some momentum, we couldn’t really know. I guess, it was nice to have that opportunity to still make it to the final, which we were able to do,” he added.