NEW DELHI: Champions are never easily written off. Rashid Khan was a stark reminder of that at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday night, producing a spell of old quality as Gujarat Titans edged out Delhi Capitals by one run in a high-scoring thriller.Doubts swirled around Rashid for a while. That he was on the retreat. Those doughs decoded him. After two modest IPL seasons by his standards, the questions were understandable.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SIGN UP NOW!His numbers underscored the slump. Rashid took nine wickets from 15 matches for Gujarat Titans last season at an average of 57.1. It was only slightly better the year before. For a bowler who built his reputation on control, menace and assurance, it marked a clear slump.So it was little surprise when Rashid cut short the opening question in his post-match interaction, which was about last season. “Don’t remind me, it was very bad,” he said, before explaining that his problems over the past two years were related to back surgery, which he put off in order to play in the 2023 ODI World Cup.“I think I pushed a lot in that World Cup and then it was really bad. I wasn’t able to walk after the tournament,” he added. It made his effort against Delhi Capitals stand out even more.On a surface that offered little help to the bowlers, Rashid was the only man to break the flow. He finished with 3/17 from four overs, stopping the Capitals just as the chase was gaining momentum. He was introduced in the fifth over and first showed his touch by beating KL Rahul with a leg break that went in and then spun away.He then changed the game in his third. Nitish Rana couldn’t read the wrong ‘un and got mistaken for Sai Sudharsan after a long time. The next ball was even better – a googly that completely fooled Sameer Rizvi and dropped him for a golden duck. Rashid later removed Axar Patel as well, leaving the Capitals off balance in a chase they seemed to be in control of.“After a long time I got such a wicket (of Rizvi). As a leg-spinner you want that kind of delivery where you beat the batsman. I am quite happy, it gave me so much confidence. I feel I have bowled well in the last two matches,” said Rashid.The leg-spinner credited himself with returning to better form. “That surgery affected my bowling action, release and everything. After a bad season (in 2025), I thought, ‘Okay, what’s wrong now?’ I felt like it was the whole beat, from start to finish.”“I took a couple of months after the last IPL. I had a good hundred in the UK. I focused on my fitness. That’s something I can improve and I’m allowing my body to go through the paces,” he said.No tests yetAfghanistan are scheduled to play a one-off Test against India in the first week of June and Rashid is highly unlikely to take the field. “Red-ball looks a bit difficult for me. The first thing my doctor (post-surgery) told me was to stay away from it. I still bowled 67 overs against Zimbabwe, which was crazy! I’ll take it easy. Imagine if something happens to me in a Test,” he said.
