IPL 2026: Rashid Khan not as intimidating as before, GT need to focus more on Sai Kishore & Washi

In the last two seasons of the IPL, Rashid Khan has only picked up 19 wickets in 27 matches played.

For the last couple of editions of the IPL, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has not been as effective, and it shows in his numbers. This year he had only 9 wickets in 15 matches for GT, while in 2024, he could manage 10 from 12 games. That is very unlike him, since the bowler was a wicket-taking machine wherever he played.

Rashid Khan losing prowess?

Former India spinner Anil Kumble too observed that Rashid seems to have lost his touch a bit. In fact, the veteran went on to concede that he isn’t as intimidating as he was earlier in T20 cricket. Kumble did not end there, and even suggested to the GT management that they should be looking at giving more chances to Sai Kishore and Washington Sundar.

“I think the novelty of Rashid Khan has worn off a little. There are many similar bowlers available now, so he is not as intimidating as before. His workload has to be managed more, along with bowlers like Sai Kishore. Even Rahul Tewatia and Washington Sundar can contribute more for GT this season,” Kumble said on JioStar.

For the record, in his last eight T20 matches, he has managed to pick up only seven wickets. Having said that, he is a big name across leagues in the world. In the format he has 685 wickets, in only 505 matches; that is the most in the world.

GT squad for IPL 2026: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Jason Holder, Ashok Sharma, Luke Wood, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Tom Banton