Adelaide Strikers star Rashid Khan labels his freakish New Year’s Eve cricket stroke the ‘broom shot’
Adelaide Strikers’ star allrounder Rashid Khan has come up with a unique name for the freakish shot he played against the Sydney Thunder, which has the whole cricket world talking.
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Rashid Khan has labelled his freakish boundary against Sydney Thunder as the “broom shot’’ as Adelaide Strikers teammate Billy Stanlake predicted more BBL09 batting fireworks from the superstar allrounder.
The shot that has had the cricket world talking – when Rashid got down on one knee to flick a wide off-side ball from left-arm seamer Daniel Sams to the mid-wicket boundary – even had the bowler shaking his head in dismay.
Rashid, better known for his world-class leg-spin bowling rather than his batting, nearly piloted the great New Year’s Eve escape for the Strikers when he made a spectacular 40 from 18 deliveries before being run out on the penultimate ball as the Thunder held on to win by three runs at Adelaide Oval.
It was the Strikers’ first loss of the campaign.
This bloke is not human!@rashidkhan_19's incredible 40 off 18 nearly saved the game for the @StrikersBBL on New Years Eve...
— News Cricket (@NewsCorpCricket) January 1, 2020
Look at some of these outrageous shots! 🤯🤯🤯#BBL09 pic.twitter.com/infUPaCLvn
Rashid took to twitter to describe his remarkable stroke as the “broom shot’’ in reply to a post from his Indian Premier League team SunRisers Hyderabad.
As the Strikers flew out to Coffs Harbour on Saturday for Sunday night’s clash against the Sydney Sixers, speedster Stanlake said he wasn’t surprised by Rashid’s impressive shot-making, saying he had been witnessing it regularly in the nets.
“If you watch him in the nets you see him play all of those shots, so it's no surprise when he goes out there and does it in a game,’’ Stanlake said after Rashid thumped three sixes and four boundaries in his short stay at the crease.
“He practices it and executes it in the nets, that’s what he brings to the table.
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“He’s not only a matchwinner with the ball but he’s a matchwinner with the bat, as we saw the other night.
“He’s terrific, lights up the crowd and is exciting to watch and we are very lucky to have him here.’’
Afghani Rashid, whose 40 against the Thunder batting at No. 8 was his best score in the Big Bash League, unveiled a new bat design in the Strikers’ previous clash against Melbourne Renegades in Melbourne.
The bat, with a deep depression on the back which means the middle is thinner than the top and bottom ends, has been dubbed “The Camel”.
Stanlake said Rashid’s performances with the bat and ball would be crucial in the Strikers (3-1-1) getting back into the winner’s circle after the final-ball loss to the Thunder.
The match against the Sixers shapes as a mini battle of leg-spin with Rashid going head-to-head with rising Redbacks star Lloyd Pope, 20, who has captured six wickets in his past three BBL games, including 3/23 against the Thunder and 2/22 against the Renegades.
“I think ‘Rash’ is a bit better than ‘Popey’ but leg-spinners are always dangerous in this (T20) format, they are hard to attack,’’ Stanlake said.
“Popey’s been terrific so far in the Big Bash, so he is someone we will have to keep an eye on.’’
Originally published as Adelaide Strikers star Rashid Khan labels his freakish New Year’s Eve cricket stroke the ‘broom shot’