Former India captain Anil Kumble believes that the Gujarat Titans (GT) can’t rely on their best bowler, Rashid Khan, as much as before because his novelty has ‘worn off’, which makes him less ‘intimidating’.
Kumble said they’d need the likes of left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore and all-rounders Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia to step up and contribute more in the upcoming IPL 2026 season.
GT, who reached the Eliminator, had one of the best bowling attacks in IPL 2025, but Rashid’s role was minimal, with the leg-spinner managing only nine wickets at an average of 57.11 and an economy rate of 9.35 — with all three figures being his worst ever in an edition of the tournament. Even in 2024, he took ten wickets in 12 matches, much less than his IPL average of 17.5 wickets/season.
“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.
Notably, Rashid himself has attributed his dip in form to the back surgery he underwent in 2023, which affected his pace and rhythm for the next many months.
Meanwhile, on the same show, Irfan Pathan spoke about how GT use new signing Jason Holder (Rs. 7 crore) and Sundar in the batting order could be crucial for their success.
“Their bet on Jason Holder is interesting. He is an amazing bowler with the new ball, but his batting has improved, especially his six-hitting abilities. GT has put a lot of faith in that. Their main strength is their top three batters: Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler. How they use Washington Sundar will be important, as his batting has gotten better too. The role of Glenn Phillips, or whoever plays at number four or five, will also be very big,” Pathan said.
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 and Tom Banton
