Will the real Rashid Khan please stand up?

New Delhi: In the eyes of many, Rashid Khan was the best Twenty20 spinner in the world. He would consistently deliver wickets at a great economy rate regardless of the conditions or the opposition. Tactically, he always seemed to be a step ahead of the batters but more importantly, his bowling had a zip to it; a zip that very often made him unplayable.

His brand of leg-spin became the template for many younger bowlers to follow – flat, fast and with the odd googly thrown in. And for a while, it looked like teams preferred playing out his overs rather than giving him wickets. That is how good he was – and we are speaking in the past tense because things aren’t exactly going to plan this season for the 26-year-old from Afghanistan.

Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Khan was carted for 54 runs in four wicket-less overs. Anyone can have the odd poor game but over the last three years, Khan’s returns haven’t been up to expectations.

Among bowlers with 100+ wickets in IPL, Khan (6.9 RPO) and Sunil Narine (RPO 6.7) are the only bowlers to have an economy rate below 7. Much of Khan’s numbers are a result of the early success he experienced in the league.

Between 2017 (when he made his IPL debut) and 2022, he had an average economy rate of 6.38. But the last three years have seen something go out of sync. Since 2023, his average economy rate has been 9.28: 8.24 in 2023, 8.40 in 2024 and 11.20 in the three games this season.

These are worrying signs for Gujarat Titans and Khan. After a lacklustre 2024 season which he was playing soon after recovering from back surgery, many expected Khan to get back to his best this season but that hasn’t happened yet.

While the Impact Sub rule has allowed batters to go hard for almost the entire length of the innings, part of Khan’s problem might be that he isn’t being as accurate as he usually was. He is missing his length, not by much but it is enough to give the batters confidence against him.

Accuracy used to be the leg-spinner’s absolute strength but with him wavering in this area, batters know that sooner rather than later, there will be a loose ball to take advantage of. And that changes the odds. Earlier, you could wait an entire innings and get nothing from him. Desperate, batters would then try to attack the good deliveries too and that would bring about their downfall.

Now, they don’t need to do anything silly. They just need to wait. Other formats would have given Rashid time to slowly find a rhythm but Twenty20 is as cut-throat as it gets and right now, the vultures are circling for the feast.

Some reckon the zip is gone, others feel his variations are being read better. But the one thing Khan has going for him is the experience he has gathered while playing T20 leagues around the world since 2015. The 464 T20 matches he has been part of should allow him to come up with another gameplan.

And in that sense, the rest of the season should be a fascinating watch. For the longest time in the IPL, there were two bowlers who were absolute gold -- Jasprit Bumrah and Khan. Try as the batters might, it was impossible to get them away. Fans swore by them and teams trusted them.

But now, Khan needs to find a way to show that greatness isn’t one dimensional. How he does that will show whether this is just a blip or something more permanent.