England Adil Rashid play a shot during the second T20 match at MAC Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: Ragu R

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 here.

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.

Adil Rashid
| Photo Credit: Reuters

In their first-ever meeting, Adil Rashid had Virat Kohli bowled. But the Indian batter had by then made 123. It was in 2006, in the first Youth (Under-19) Test at Canterbury.

“I don’t remember the dismissal, but I remember bowling a lot to him,” Rashid told The Hindu over phone from Leeds.

“We became good friends. Back then, we thought he would become a world-class player, but probably not to the extent he has become. I definitely thought this guy has something special in him and he will definitely go a long, long way. And look where he is today — one of the best batsmen ever in the history of cricket, across formats.”

Rashid has had more success in shorter formats. “I don’t regret that I have played only 19 Tests,” says England’s most successful spinner in limited-overs cricket. “When I started playing cricket, I didn’t actually think I would play 19 Tests. So that’s a good achievement for myself. Maybe if I played more Tests, I might not have played these many ODIs and T20Is. I am quite fortunate how things have fallen into place with me.”

He needs just one more wicket to become the first-ever England spinner to take 200 wickets in ODIs (he has 122 in T20Is, more than any other England bowler, of any style). That could happen during the ODI series, which starts with the first match at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

“I am looking forward to this series,” says Rashid. “When you are playing against Australia in any format — be it Test, ODI or T20I, with this ODI T20 — it is a big thing for England. We always have that rivalry there and that competition is high. So going to the ODIs, we are in high spirits, especially after the T20I series ended 1-1, because of rain in the third game.”

Rashid is proud of the two World Cups he has won with England — in 2019 (ODI) and 2022 (T20I). “Those two have been the standout events of my career,” he says. “Winning a World Cup is ultimately what you want to do in terms of international cricket.”

Rashid is more than about statistics. He is a lovely bowler to watch. Remember his leg-break that bowled Kohli in the third ODI at Leeds, his home ground, in 2018?

Watch the first ODI of Australia Tour of England on 19th September , 5:00 PM IST onwards LIVE On Sony Sports Ten 5 SD & HD channels.

New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner (L) leaves the field as England’s Moeen Ali (3R) celebrates taking his wicket during the second ODI at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England on September 10, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP

England all-rounder Moeen Ali completed 100 wickets in ODI cricket on Sunday, becoming the only third spinner from the country to do so. 

Moeen reached this milestone during England’s second ODI against New Zealand at Southampton. During the match, the spinner bowled well, taking 2/30 in five overs at a decent economy rate of 6.00. He took the crucial wickets of in-form all-rounder Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Santner. 

Moeen also contributed 33 runs off 32 balls with his bat, smacking three boundaries and a six. Now in 130 ODIs, Moeen has 101 wickets at an average of 49.20, with the best bowling figures of 4/46.

Anderson at top

England spin bowlers with more ODI wickets than Moeen are Graeme Swann (104 wickets in 79 matches) and Adil Rashid (184 wickets in 126 matches). Adil is England’s third most-successful ODI bowler ever while Moeen sits at 14th spot. With 269 wickets in 194 matches, pacer James Anderson is England’s most successful ODI bowler ever. 

Coming to the match, after being put to bat first, early powerplay strikes by a returning Trent Boult reduced England to 55/5, with skipper Jos Buttler (30 in 25 balls, with four boundaries) being the only decent contributor among the top five batters. Then Livingstone had a 48-run stand with Moeen (33 in 32 balls with three fours and a six) that helped England reach the 100-run mark and then a 112-run stand with Sam Curran (42 in 35 balls, with one four and two sixes) that helped England reach 226/7 in 50 overs.

Boult (3/37) was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand. Tim Southee (2/65) got two scalps while Matt Henry and Mitchell Santner got one each. In the chase of 227, NZ was reduced to 55/3, with Finn Allen going for a duck and openers Devon Conway (14) and Will Young (33) falling quickly after a 49-run stand. After a 56-run partnership between Daryl Mitchell (57 in 52 balls, with six fours and a six) and skipper Tom Latham (19), NZ lost their seven wickets for just 36 runs, bundling out for 147 in 26.5 overs. Reece Topley (3/27) and David Willey (3/34) were the pick of the bowlers for England. Moeen got two while Atkinson got one.

Livingstone took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award.