11 facts about Adil Rashid: England's leg spinning hope

Leg spin is a rare phenomenon in English cricket, the last prominent one last played in the year 1951. But, with an enhanced reputation, Adil Rashid seems to be the best to have emerged from the rare breed of English cricket after a long time. He is regarded as one of the most exciting all-rounders England possesses currently and has established himself as Yorkshire’s number one spinner before entering the English team. The Yorkshireman has been considered as the most talented leg spinner in the country by ECB bowling coach David Parsons. Rashid seems to be playing a very crucial role in reviving the art of leg spin in the country which had almost branded leg spinners ‘rare breed.’

1. Born on:

Adil Usman Rashid was born on February 17, 1988, Bradford, Yorkshire.

2. Origins:

Rashid is only the third Yorkshire-born Asian to play first-class cricket for Yorkshire, and the first of Pakistani origin. His brother Harron and Amar Rashid are also FC cricketers.

3. Early Life

Rashid, like his England teammate Moeen Ali, he belongs to the Mirpur community. His family migrated to England in 1967 from Mirpur, Azad Kashmir.

4. Early cricketing career:

Rashid showed promise from a young age. He has showed promise since an early. In July 2005, aged 17, he took 6–13 for Yorkshire’s Academy (youth) team. A few days later he hit 111 for Yorkshire Cricket Board Under-17s against their Cheshire equivalents in the Under-17s County Championship. Later he played for the England U19’s.

5. Worked with legends:

Rashid has worked with Australian legend Shane Warne in the nets. Earlier in his career, Rashid also worked with the late spin guru Terry Jenner – Warne’s mentor, who spotted him as a young 14-year-old.

6. First Class debut:

Rashid made his first-class debut against Warwickshire at North Marine Road, Scarborough, as a replacement for injured overseas batsman Darren Lehmann. He took 6–67 in the second innings, grabbing all the eyeballs as before Rashid, the last England leg-spinner to take five wickets in an innings was Lancashire’s Tommy Greenhough – 56 years ago.

7. International Debut:

Rashid debuted in Test cricket in late 2015 when England toured UAE to play against Pakistan. He played in all three matches in that series. he took eight wickets in the series.

8. Unique feat:

Adil Rashid has scored a century and taken a five-wicket haul in a match three times in his First Class career. The last player to have achieved the feat twice in a season for Yorkshire was George Hirstback in 1911.

9. Honors:

In 2007, He scored his maiden first-class century against Worcestershire at Kidderminster in August, and was named PCA’s and Cricket Writers’ Club’s Young Player of the Year in September.

10. A seasoned county player:

Adil Rashid has worked hard and grinded himself for many years with the Yorkshire team. In all, he has played 142 FC games where he has taken an outstanding 418 wickets. He has been equally proficient with the bat as well, scoring 5781 runs at an average of 35.25 with the help of 10 centuries and 32 half-centuries.

11. Worst and best performance on debut:

The England leg-spinner took 0-163 in the first innings of the opening Test against Pakistan – the worst figures by a debutant – but claimed 5-64 in the second innings as his side almost pulled off a remarkable victory.