Adil Rashid pockets an enormous sum of money for the least possible contribution in a match

England virtually needed 10 men to bury India at Lord’s to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Adil Rashid, the 30-year-old spinner who was recalled in the Test side for the series, did not have any contribution to make in the just-concluded Test. He thus became just the 14th player and first Englishman in 13 years to manage something of this sort. The leg-spinner did not bowl a single over in the match as the quicks took 19 Indian wickets (one run-out) to register a thumping victory by an innings and 159 runs.

Rashid also did not get to bat as England declared their first innings at 396 for 7, gaining a decisive lead of 289 runs, and it was the only time they batted in the match. He also did not get an opportunity to grab a catch in the game nor did he effect a run out. The bowler nevertheless made 12,500 pounds (Rs 11,08,585.11) for being a part of the English playing XI in the game.

India, on the other hand, played two spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav and none of them managed to pick a wicket in the 26 overs they bowled. together, conceding 112 runs. India were dismissed for 107 in their first innings, followed by 130 in the second, with spearhead James Anderson pocketing nine scalps for just 43 runs. The bowler is now just 10 short of equalling Glenn McGrath’s Test tally of 563 – the highest by any first bowler in the history of the game.

The Edgbaston Test

Rashid had taken three wickets in the first Test at Edgbaston and one of them was Indian skipper Virat Kohli who he dismissed on 149 – his first ever century on the English soil. With the bat, Rashid contributed 13 and 16 in the two innings of the match. Rashid was the next man to bat when captain Joe Root declared the English innings at Lord’s.

The feat of the leg-spinner, who played his 12th Test match at the iconic ground, was not a unique one though in England’s 141-year Test history during which they have played 1,001 matches. There have been 13 instances before where a player had a completely idle time on the ground. The last English player to have such an experience was off-spinner Gareth Batty who did not bowl during the innings and 261-run win over Bangladesh at the same ground in 2005.

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