‘That’s Rashid Khan at his best’ – Deep Dasgupta analyses GT spinner’s sensational spell that kept RR on their toes

Deep Dasgupta has analysed Rashid Khan‘s exceptional spell of 4-33 in his four overs as Gujarat Titans (GT) thumped Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Match 52 of IPL 2026 in Jaipur on Saturday, May 09. Dasgupta has reflected on the haul, expressing that the spinner from Afghanistan stuck to a wicket-to-wicket line, which attacked the RR batters throughout the match.

Rashid got the better of cleaned up Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, and Shubham Dubey while trapping Ravindra Jadeja in front of his pads during his sensational outing with the ball, meaning all his wickets came as he attacked at the stumps. Dasgupta highlighted that this is exactly what makes the Nangarhar-born a very lethal weapon for the Titans.

“Let’s see the [Shubham] Dubey wicket [bowled] from over the wicket [to a left-hand batter]. If he gets the ball to turn from outside off-stump or off-stump and hit middle or off, that’s a really good delivery. It was the old, vintage Rashid today. If you remember when Rashid was at his best, almost every delivery was hitting the stumps,” Dasgupta said via ESPNcricinfo.

“Today, if you look at his four wickets – three bowled and one leg before – and if you look at his beehive, you’ll find a very high percentage of those deliveries were hitting the stumps. So that’s Rashid Khan at his best. Plus, the moment he starts bowling over the wicket to a left-hander and his leg-spin deliveries are hitting the stumps, he becomes very dangerous,” he added.

Courtesy of the star spinner’s brilliance with the ball, GT have now climbed up to the second spot on the points table and have strengthened their position to qualify for the playoffs. Rashid, meanwhile, has now completed 15 wickets in the tournament and has the most wickets as a spinner thus far in the season. He will look to provide more of his best as the tournament moves into its business end.