ADIL RASHID received a hero’s welcome on his return to Bradford after helping England to clinch the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. His home city arranged a street party for him outside his uncle’s shop where the cricketer was cheered by hundreds of supporters.
“I never thought it’d be like this. It’s a great feeling, knowing that all the friends, family, community, are all here supporting me. Hopefully we can now kick on for the next generation of cricketers, hopefully they’ll see the game and be inspired,” the 31-year old told the gathering.Rashid is sure to inspire more.
His long loved club Yorkshire is planning to honour him when they open a new cricket centre at Bradford Park Avenue. The county cricket club will name some part of the centre after Rashid, their most successful academy graduate of British Asian origin.
The centre itself is part of the ECB’s South Asian Action Plan, making it a fitting gesture for the man and his community. The leg spinner played a significant role in England’s World Cup mission, taking 11 wickets, including the three against Australia in the semi final match. And, he played the tournament braving a shoulder injury, with the help of pain-masking injections.
Yet, his decision to withdraw from Yorkshire squads in August, following medical advice of two months of rest, caused consternation among some of the club fans. Rashid is much loved at Headingley, and has given brilliant performances with both bat and ball for the county, but it seems fans always demand more from him. Rashid’s strong performance against India in one day internationals has earned him a recall to the test squad against the same opponents in the 2018 home series. But this surprised many Yorkshire fans as he had informed the club his plans to focus on limited overs formats of the game earlier that year.
His decision to withdraw from the title decider match of the 2016 County Championship, against Middlesex, had generated much more heat. Middlesex went on to win the championship, stopping Yorkshire from achieving a hat-trick. But, he says he does not regret that decision. His grandmother was on her death bed, and “family comes first” for him.
“For Yorkshire fans who still don’t accept that, that’s their problem. There are some for me, some against. Sometimes it can be upsetting and I think: ‘Why am I singled out?’ You have doubts in your head about the reasons,” he had told in a recent interview.
Rashid is the first Yorkshire-born cricketer of Pakistani origin to play for the county, and worked his way through the England Under-19s, Lions and Performance Programmes before making his senior debut at the 2009 World Twenty20 and ODI debut in the same year against Ireland. He had to wait another six years for his Test debut, against Pakistan in the UAE in October 2015.
He had to endure the worst figures for a Test debutant in the first innings, conceding 163 runs without a wicket, but came back remarkably in the second innings with a five-wicket haul. In the next test of the series, he proved his worth with the bat, scoring his maiden Test half-century. He has since established himself as a regular in the England ODI and T20 sides.
Rashid has taken the most number of ODI wickets since the 2015 World Cup, which reveals this unsung hero’s crucial role in the recent turnaround of the England cricket team, leading all the way to 2019 World Cup triumph.
