Lara considers Rashid 'not much of a wicket-taker'

It came as a surprise when Sunrisers Hyderabad did not retain Rashid Khan before the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season after the premier leg spinner had served the franchise, quite commendably, between 2017 to 2021, having picked 93 wickets in 76 games with an impressive 6.33 economy rate.

Rashid was picked up by Gujrat Titans eventually, who are now reaping benefits off the Afghan leggie as he became the joint-third-fastest player to scalp three figures in IPL of late. After seven rounds of matches, with the top two sides in the IPL table -- Hyderabad and Gujrat – set to lock horns on April 27, understandably, Rashid was in the midst of discussions.

Sunrisers' batting coach Brian Lara, however, reckons his side is still complete without Rashid and "The Prince of Port of Spain" took a bit of a dig at the leggie.

"I have a 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 told Star Sports' Kevin Pietersen after Hyderabad's win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.

The legendary West Indian batter, one of the all-time greats whose duel with the late Shane Warne is part of cricketing folklore, later did ponder on whether his side, who have won five games so far this season, would have been better with Rashid in their ranks.  

"All respect to Rashid Khan, if he was a member of [Hyderabad] this team, I think we might have been 7 out of 7, I don't know," said Lara.