‘They see Moeen Ali bowling off-spin and Adil Rashid bowling leg-spin and want to do that.’

Virat Kohli’s face is expressive. The surprise on his face when he bats is something you rarely see. But in the third ODI in Leeds during India’s tour of England in 2018, Adil Rashid managed to create a reaction with a ball that reminded many of the century ball bowled by Shane Warne to Mike Gatting. Rashid’s leg-break master moved towards the batsman and turned sharply to trouble the off stump. It may not have been as spectacular as the late Australian magician’s immortal ball, but it was against Kohli.

Last week, at the same ground, Leeds, which is his home ground, Rashid reached a significant milestone. He became the first England spinner to take 200 ODI wickets during the second game of the five-match series against Australia. The 36-year-old spoke The Hindu On the phone from Leeds. Part:

We are seeing that many young spinners are coming to the England team. Two of them, Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir, made their Test debut on the India tour earlier this year, with Rehan Ahmed making his Test debut in Pakistan before that.

I’m glad to see so many of them coming. And there are a few more besides the ones you mentioned. You know you have to find people to replace other people – batsmen, fast bowlers, spinners. You have to find the next one.

So hopefully when my time is up or when I finish or whatever the circumstances are, the spinners will be ready to jump in and do what I have done over the years. This is the ultimate objective. And at the moment, there are a lot of spinners coming through the Lions and county system. Therefore the future of spin bowling looks bright.

Well, it was not like that when you started doing leg-spin. Why did you adopt this style when it was not very fashionable in England?

My father got me into leg-spin from a young age, when I was six or seven years old. He just bowled me – that’s how you bowl leg-spin. He told me what he knows about cricket. He didn’t play professionally, but he just loved his cricket. And he taught me the basics of leg-spin.

And then as time goes on, you find that you’re okay, and then you start meeting with trainers. You start improvising and playing. And this is how things unfolded. This was entirely due to my father getting me involved in it from a young age and me enjoying it and letting things flow.

England has had many spinners of Asian origin. Monty Panesar, Moeen Ali, Bashir, Rehan. Is this a coincidence, or are Asians just better at getting the ball rolling?

When he was growing up, he looked at me and Moeen as role models. It’s just a default thing – they see Moeen Ali bowling off-spin and Adil Rashid bowling leg-spin, and they want to do that. Sometimes I feel like I’m a role model. They want to copy me and certain aspects of my life. But now there are definitely spinners coming from different backgrounds, religions.

Exceptional Leader: Rashid enjoyed his time under the leadership of Eoin Morgan, whom he says was ‘the best package as a captain’. , Photo Credit: Getty Images

You have been part of two World Cup-winning England teams.

Top of the list of highlights of my career would be England winning the ODI trophy for the first time (in 2019) and obviously winning the T20 World Cup in 2022. Winning the World Cup is ultimately what you want to do in terms of international cricket. This is the highest achievement in football or any other sport. And for me, luckily, I’m playing and trying hard enough to win two.

There was a period of two or three years when we were working towards winning that (2019) World Cup. Going into the World Cup, everything was not going our way; There was a time when we had to win all four or five matches to win the World Cup. So every game we played was like a final. We beat the best teams there and performed really well.

The England team was amazing: a brilliant batting line-up, lots of all-rounders, a powerful, diverse attack and a wonderful captain in Eoin Morgan. Was that the best team you’ve been a part of?

Personally, I think that period of four or five years from 2015 to the 2019 World Cup win, England have been the best team ever in the history of cricket. I enjoyed being a part of it because we had a new approach. Our mentality was different. We were trying to create a different brand of cricket. This is where we started our whole brand of positivity, fearlessness and aggression. Things just started unfolding. Morgan led it well.

Is Morgan the best captain you have played under?

Without a doubt, without a doubt. It was how he handled things and what his mentality was, and how he impacted people. He was the best in terms of his approach, the way he handled individuals, his body language and the confidence he gave to his team, his players. And most of all was his leadership. He was a leader, he was very humble but he was also very respected. As a captain he was a great package. He is also a very good friend of mine.

All time: Rashid, who was seen celebrating the 2019 World Cup win with Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali, says the team claims to be the best in English history. , Photo Credit: Getty Images

Do you regret that you could play only 19 Tests?

Not necessary. When I started playing cricket I didn’t really think that I would play 19 Tests. So for me this is a good achievement. My T20 and ODI stuff kept increasing. So it was a matter of good fortune. Maybe if I had played more Tests, I might not have played as many ODIs and T20 matches, so it works out as well. I was very fortunate in how things fell into place.

You became MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) last year. How much does that identity mean to you?

Obviously this is a big title in England. You know, you are recognized by the king, you are recognized by the people for your outstanding achievements, not only in cricket but also what you do off the field, in terms of your work, perhaps in life for communities and individuals. For help. , It means a lot to my family too. Especially for a boy who came from a place where he had very few resources and facilities and then became what I am today.

You bowled Virat Kohli after scoring 123 runs in the first Youth (Under-19) Test at Canterbury in 2006.

I remember bowling to him a lot. We became good friends. At the time, we thought he would become a world-class player, but perhaps not to the extent that he has become. I definitely thought this guy was something special and would go far. Today, he is one of the best batsmen across all formats in the history of cricket.

(This interview was conducted by Sony Sports Network, which is telecasting the ongoing England-Australia ODI series)