Alastair Cook reckons Adil Rashid has matured as a cricketer in the past few months

07/31/2018

Alastair Cook claims that Adil Rashid has grown as a cricketer since the time he last played for the Test team in December 2016. Cook also added that Joe Root should be given time to settle in as the skipper of the England Test team after the Three Lions have won just three of their last 12 matches.

England spinner Adil Rashid’s inclusion in the Test squad to play against Virat Kohli & Co. came as a shocker to the English cricket community last week especially since he last played for England in December 2016. Former England captain Michael Vaughan was among the many ex-cricketers to criticise ECB’s decision to recall the spinner for the upcoming five-match Test series against India. And former England skipper - Alastair Cook has also backed ECB's decision as he claimed that the 30-year old has matured in recent months since he last played for the Three Lions in 2016.

“In one sense, I feel a little bit sorry for Adil – all the political side of the selection, rather than looking at him,” Cook said at a press conference on Monday (July 30). “He has gone away and worked really hard on his one-day skills and has been bowling brilliantly in the last two series. He has been selected to play for England, which is a huge honour, and all this other stuff has overtaken it.”

“I think probably in the past he would have been (phased). Over the last 18 months, I think he has matured as a cricketer and improved since we last saw him in an England Test shirt. I think he will be fine,” he said. “Clearly he is going to be nervous because it’s a bit of time away from the England team and with the circumstances. But I genuinely think he will cope – he is bowling brilliantly,” Cook said at a press conference yesterday.

Cook also revealed the fact that Rashid will be playing his 11th Test under Joe Root, who was his Yorkshire teammate, will benefit the spinner a lot in the upcoming series.

“Joe is in a great position in one sense because he probably knows him better than anyone else, certainly better than I did when I captained Adil. They’ve got a good relationship. They seem to get on really well and they’d have played a lot of cricket together growing up. That can only be a bonus,” Cook shared. “Certainly the way Joe would have seen him operate over the last two or three years and seen him get better and better – I think that’s helpful,” Cook said.

Cook also backed Root to deliver in the upcoming test for the English team despite their poor run of just three wins from 12 Test matches.

“It’s a hard job.But it’s also a very rewarding job. You get tested in ways you never thought you would be. I absolutely loved it. But I believe it was the right time for me personally (to quit). In an ideal world, I think the hierarchy would have wanted me to carry on and captain in Australia (the 2017-18 Ashes series). But I didn’t feel I was in the right mental state to do that and it wouldn’t be fair for the team to do that. I’m now the senior batter. I don’t have to worry about team meetings, what’s being said or looking at the opposition. I can just concentrate on the batting,” Cook added.

Alastair Cook reckons Adil Rashid has matured as a cricketer in the past few months

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