The English leg-spinner Adil Rashid played his last Test match against India in 2016 and finished the match with figures of one for 153, going at over five runs an over. Recently, he has been named in the XI for the first Test ahead of Moeen Ali, Joe Root sufficiently impressed with the leg-spinner’s form in limited-overs cricket.
Talking about the same, the English skipper, Joe Root said, “They both bring different things to the table but with the number of right-handers we think are going to be in India number he gives us a very attacking option. He’s bowling with a huge amount of confidence at the minute, seems in a really good place with his game, and has matured a hell of a lot since he last played Test cricket.”
ALSO READ: Records to be Broken in the first Test
Rashid’s call-up has been controversial, to say the least, with Geoffrey Boycott calling him a “spoilt brat” in his newspaper column this week. However, Root felt that Rashid was not affected by the criticism, he said, “No, it doesn’t look like it has at all. He’s gone about his business as he has all summer and how he does it in the one-day side. Obviously, I was in favor of the selection and I think it gives us a really great attacking spinning option. In terms of the criticism, people are entitled to their opinions and can voice what they want. I think it’s slightly unfair but that’s my opinion.”
Joe Root concluded the expressing that despite the fact that the Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s failure in England in 2014, the Englishmen are well aware of the fact that he is world class players and can be very lethal on his day.
Root said, “From our perspective, we’d love similar form but we know how good a player he is and what he is capable of. He’s come a long way in the last few years in this format in particular. We feel we have some strong plans in place for him but ultimately when you play against the world’s best players they generally have answers. So we’re going to have to be really strong in the areas we bowl to him and be really clear how we want to get him out.”
