Gujarat Titans (GT) showed a familiar faith in their bowlers, whether the attack started the innings or finished it \u2014 but on Saturday night, the side\u2019s two biggest wicket-takers delivered in tandem. Kagiso Rabada struck early with figures of 2 for 33 in three overs, while Rashid Khan produced a match-winning spell of 4 for 33 from four. Together they combined for 6 wickets in seven overs, restricting Rajasthan Royals (RR) and turning the contest firmly in GT\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n
Rashid Khan has been a standout performer across IPL history and currently sits one place above Lasith Malinga at No. 10 on the tournament\u2019s all-time wicket list. However, his run of form in IPL 2026 has looked far more ruthless after two less-flattering seasons. In 2024, he managed 10 wickets at an economy rate of 8.40, and in 2025 he took nine wickets while conceding at 9.35. He attributed the 2025 dip to rushing back following back surgery.<\/p>\n
This season, though, Rashid has quickly returned to being a genuine threat. He has taken 15 wickets in 11 bowling innings, and his economy rate of 8.26 underlines how he has tightened his grip on matches.<\/p>\n
Deep Dasgupta highlighted the specific tactical details behind Rashid\u2019s effectiveness, especially against left-hand batters. He pointed to a wicket described as being delivered from over the wicket, with the ball turning from outside off stump or off stump to hit the stumps.<\/p>\n
Dasgupta\u2019s view was that the spell reflected Rashid\u2019s \u201cold, vintage\u201d best. He noted that during this phase Rashid\u2019s deliveries were consistently finding the stumps, and he linked that pattern directly to the outcomes: of Rashid\u2019s four wickets, three were bowled and one resulted in leg before wicket. He also referenced Rashid\u2019s beehive\u2014suggesting the unusual, high percentage of stump-hitting balls had been a defining feature of the spell.<\/p>\n
According to Dasgupta\u2019s breakdown, once Rashid begins bowling over the wicket to a left-hander and the legspin is landing on target, he becomes particularly dangerous \u2014 a theme that proved decisive in this match.<\/p>\n
While Rashid took the match honours, Rabada climbed to the head of the Purple Cap conversation. He has now collected 14 wickets in his most recent seven games, taking his season tally to 18.<\/p>\n
Rabada\u2019s impact came with two major wickets, both arriving during the powerplay. In the fourth over, he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal with a climbing, hard-length delivery just outside off at 152.1 kph. Soon after, Shimron Hetmyer fell to a similarly shaped ball in the early phase as well. In both cases, the batters were rushed into their shot-making \u2014 a pattern that matched GT\u2019s aggressive early bowling plan.<\/p>\n
Mitchell McClenaghan, who had worked with Rabada prior to the tournament, linked the improvement to Rabada\u2019s preparation for the season. He pointed out that after three \u201caverage\u201d IPL campaigns, Rabada\u2019s numbers had shown the change taking shape: 20 wickets in 21 matches, with economy rates of 10.09 and 11.57 across two of those three years.<\/p>\n
McClenaghan suggested Rabada recognised his T20 \u2014 particularly IPL \u2014 performances had not been where he wanted them. He described Rabada treating the tournament as a privilege and putting in extra preparation so he would arrive as ready as possible.<\/p>\n
McClenaghan also connected the motivation to Rabada\u2019s broader cricket identity \u2014 namely, how he is often viewed as a Test and ODI bowler rather than a T20 specialist. He argued that Rabada knows he is among the best in Test cricket, and that for one-day cricket he is exceptional too, but he does not like being left out of the top tier in T20.<\/p>\n
The former coach added that Rabada\u2019s pride shows when he switches his focus to a challenge: he has been unhappy with sitting on the bench in IPL cricket in the last three seasons and with not performing as well as he would have liked for South Africa in World Cups. In McClenaghan\u2019s assessment, once Rabada decides he wants to compete, \u201cyou can\u2019t stop this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gujarat Titans (GT) showed a familiar faith in their bowlers, whether the attack started the innings or finished it \u2014 but on Saturday night, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2024: Rabada, Rashid stun RR with tandem spell","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"IPL 2024: Rabada and Rashid Khan combine for 6 wickets in seven overs, stunning RR and powering Gujarat Titans to a dominant win.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n