I’m not looking at retirement: Adil Rashid
English cricketers Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali have shared a special bond on and off the field for many years. The two spinners would often bowl in tandem during their international stints with England together.
With Moeen Ali calling it a day just a few weeks back, the burden of a lost friendship and managing the spin-bowling workload has weighed in on Rashid, or at least it seemed to appear.
However, that didn’t appear to be the case when Rashid was interviewed recently. He quashed any rumours floating on him following suit and retiring and instead was more than happy to take each game as it came.
“I feel good. I’m not looking at retirement. I’m playing each game and each series as it comes and if I’m still enjoying it and performing well, I’ll keep carrying on. I’ve got no eye yet on retiring or anything like that – that’s not even crossed my mind. It’s about enjoying the game and still giving it everything I’ve got,” stated Rashid, as quoted by The Independent.
He also admitted to knowing Moeen’s decision well before it was made public. Yet, he once again made it clear that despite their personal closeness, he wouldn’t let it affect him professionally.
“I knew about Mo (Ali) but I had to keep it to myself. He’s a big miss for the team and a big miss for me because we’re really good friends on and off the pitch. Sometimes, it can be a bit…not lonely, but me and him are very tight, very close. But that’s life, people move on and come in and out and it’s something each individual has to get used to as well as the team,” mentioned Rashid further.
My inputs will be a bit more now that Moeen has retired: Rashid
Rashid also highlighted the added responsibility Moeen’s retirement has caused in terms of being the chief source of transmitting information and his experiences to the younger bunch in the team. He also named a couple of leg-spinners, amidst others, who he thought could vye to occupy the top spot when it came to the English bowling lineup over time.
“With Mo not being there my input will obviously be a little bit more, speaking to the youngsters and them coming to me. That’s the ultimate aim. Whatever I’ve got in terms of experience, form, ups and downs, the knowledge I have, I can pass that on. It could be in terms of mindset or technical things. I’m trying to do now as well, with the youngsters I’m working with. I’ve worked with Rehan Ahmed, I’ve worked with Jafer (Chohan) at Yorkshire. There’s a few around the circuit, they’re in competition, which is healthy, and they can compete to become that number one spinner,” added Rashid.
Interestingly, Rashid will be the senior-most player in the squad to be playing their third ODI against Australia on Tuesday. Not only that, the do-or-die game will be Rashid’s 138th ODI. His dear friend ended his career with the same number of 50-over appearances.
