"We Couldn't...": Muttiah Muralitharan On Why SunRisers Hyderabad Didn't Retain Rashid Khan

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) parted ways with Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction. The news came as a shock for many as Rashid was an integral part of the franchise and many though Rashid will be among those to be retained by the team. The spic wizard was eventually drafted in by IPL debutants Gujarat Titans (GT) ahead of the mega auction. Rashid managed to hog all the limelight once again as GT and SRH faced off in match 21 of the ongoing season. During the match, SRH spin-bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan was asked about the franchise's decision to not retain Rashid.

However, Muralitharan said that the franchise didn't want to release Rashid, adding that SRH couldn't have afford to retain the star player.

"We didn't want to get rid of Rashid Khan. We couldn't afford him," Muralitharan was quoted as saying on-air.

During his five seasons with SRH, Rashid played 76 matches for the franchise, taking 93 wickets.

So far, Rashid has bagged six wickets in four matches for GT.

Talking about the match, SRH defeated GT by 8 wickets.

After being put into bat first, GT posted a total of 162 for seven, on the back of skipper Hardik Pandya's knock of 50 off 42 balls.

In reply, SRH chased down the target with eight wickets and five balls to spare.

Williamson scored a fine 57 while Abhishek Sharma and Nicholas Pooran also played handy knocks of 42 and 34 not out respectively.

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So far, GT have won three out of four games while SRH are on a two-game winning-run after losing their first two matches.

SRH will now play Kolkata Knight Riders in their next match on Friday, April 15 while the Titans will take on Rajasthan Royals on Thursday, April 14.