“Once he gets experience, he’ll be as good as Rashid Khan” - Abhinav Manohar makes huge prediction on young GT spinner

Gujarat Titans (GT) batter Abhinav Manohar reckons that young left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad will be “as good as Rashid Khan” once he gains experience. Praising the Afghan youngster, he added that he hasn’t been able to pick him in the nets for the last year and a half.

Ahmad, 18, has excelled for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. He registered figures of 2/18 in the seven-run win over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). On Tuesday, April 25, he claimed 3/37 in Gujarat’s 55-run thumping of Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

While Ahmad was impressive, senior leg-spinner Rashid also continued his good run, returning with figures of 2/27. Praising the Afghan duo, Manohar said at a post-match press conference:

“Rashid and Noor are really tough to pick in the nets. It’s been a year and a half and I can’t pick Noor in the nets so I’m sure for a new batter playing from some other team is very hard to pick him. He’s just not got enough experience to play matches but once he gets that experience he’ll be as good as Rashid Khan.”

Although Mumbai were chasing 208 in the game, Manohar opined that conditions were easier for batters in the second innings since there was dew. He praised Gujarat’s bowlers for coming up with an excellent performance.

The right-handed batter commented:

“To be honest I feel it was easier to bat in the second innings because of the dew but our bowlers really bowled well and they lost a few wickets early on which didn’t allow the batsmen to come out and play their game.”

Apart from Ahmad and Rashid, Mohit Sharma also impressed, claiming 2/38. Mohammed Shami conceded only 18 runs in his four overs, though he did not pick up a wicket.

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“Once you do that, the team comes together” - Manohar on unlikely win against LSG

Manohar admitted that the manner in which they came back to beat the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the previous game was a definite confidence booster. Chasing 136, LSG needed 30 off their last five overs with eight wickets in hand. However, Gujarat somehow managed to eke out a seven-run win.

Asked about the impact of the game on the team’s morale, the batter asserted:

“A win like last game would give any team huge amount of confidence. We defended 30 in the last five overs, which was a great effort by the bowlers. Once you do that, the team comes together as well. We gel better.

"We are the defending champions and we play like that as well. Our mindset is like that thanks to Hardik [Pandya] and Ashish [Nehra] sir. The fearless attitude is all thanks to them.”

After seven games, the Gujarat Titans are second in the IPL 2023 points table with five wins and two losses.