England skipper Jos Buttler sees veteran leg-spinner Adil Rashid as the team’s most important player in the T20 setup after his special skills were on display in the third match against India in Rajkot. Rashid put up a masterclass of leg-spin to help England pull one back in the five-match series. He varied his pace beautifully and got the ball to turn a lot more than all other spinners in operation on Tuesday night. The India batters were not even looking for boundaries against Rashid who ended up with figures of one for 15 in four overs. He applied the choke in the middle overs alongside Jamie Overton and got rid of in-form Tilak Varma with a peach of a delivery.
Even in Chennai during the second T20I, Rashid conceded less than four runs per over.
Following the 26-run win, Buttler couldn’t gush enough about the 36-year-old, who has been playing T20 Internationals since 2009.
“He’s the most important player for us, and he always just seems to keep getting better. He’s got so many different styles of bowling, he’s got so much variety.
“One of his great skills is that the first couple of balls he bowls, he seems to work out exactly how he needs to bowl on that wicket, and yeah, he’s an absolute trump card to have as a captain, so yeah, he’s been brilliant the last couple of games,” said Buttler in his post-match press conference.
England had the Indian batters under the pump even in the previous game but Varma’s individual brilliance got the home team over the line.
The visitors were even sharper with the ball on Tuesday and were able to defend 171 comfortably. Besides Rashid, pacer Overton also kept the batters quiet with his variations.
“Yeah, it’s the beauty of being an all-rounder, isn’t it? He (Overton) missed out tonight with the bat, but still impacts the game so much with the ball, so yeah, we know he’ll come good, he’s been playing great for a while now, and he’s a really dangerous hitter with the ball.
“…so the more he’s out here as well, exposed to these conditions, he’s just going to improve all the time, and as I say, guys who can affect the game in all three facets are gold dust,” Buttler, who also praised another all-rounder Brydon Carse.
Still trailing 1-2 in the five-match series, Buttler thinks his team is moving in the right direction.
“I just love the way the guys played there, and Livy (Liam Livingstong with his five sixes) really taking it on in sixes, and credit to Rash (Rashid) and Woody (Mark Wood) as well, putting on 20-odd for the last wicket, got us up to a really good score.
“So, I think from the first ball of the match, the wicket probably looked a bit different than everyone thought it might play, so to have 170 on the board was a really good score.” Buttler added that his men will continue to be aggressive with both bat and ball.
“Really happy with the sort of style that we’re trying to play, and continuing to be aggressive, and taking our shots on with the bat, and then absolutely with the ball,” he said.
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