Adil Rashid: Double World Cup winners are ‘one of the best England squad that is ever been’

Rashid, 35, is likely one of the core members of a squad that got here collectively within the wake of England’s humiliation on the 2015 World Cup in Australia, by which they had been eradicated on the group stage of the competitors. Since then, England have gone on to achieve three finals and two semi-finals in 5 subsequent ICC international occasions, together with memorable victories within the 2019 50-over World Cup, and most lately, the T20 model in 2022.

Speaking at an occasion in Tottenham forward of this yr’s Hundred competitors, Rashid – who has been battling a again damage and has not performed since a two-match IPL stint for Sunrisers Hyderabad in April – insisted he was approaching full health as soon as once more, and was able to get again to motion together with his eyes firmly locked on the prize.

“I came back from the IPL with a bit of an injury, so I took that month off during the T20 Blast to get fully fit, and hopefully now I’m good to go,” Rashid stated on the launch of the KP Snacks group cricket pitches initiative in Broadwater Farm.

“It’s not just myself. I’m sure everybody going there, the whole squad will be ready and raring to go,” he added. “As defending champions, we’ll definitely go there with that mindset. It’d be very exciting times, but it will not be an easy challenge, especially in India in their backyard, where they are very strong.

“We’ll undoubtedly need to be our greatest as a unit, as a squad, but it surely’s one thing that we all know we are able to obtain if we put our thoughts to it, and it is one thing we’ll undoubtedly be trying ahead to.”

The revival of England’s white-ball fortunes took a major step during their last World Cup campaign in India, in 2016, when – under the leadership of Eoin Morgan – the team reached the World T20 final against West Indies in Kolkata, only to come unstuck against Carlos Brathwaite’s volley of four sixes in Ben Stokes’ final over.

Last winter, however, Stokes and England made amends for that heartache with victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup final in Melbourne. Rashid also excelled at the sharp end of that tournament, claiming the best figures in the final of 2 for 22 in his four overs, to go alongside similarly frugal displays in a must-win group game against Sri Lanka, and a ten-wicket rout of India in the semi-final.

“It’s one thing that, as a teenager, you dream of enjoying World Cups on your nation, and profitable,” Rashid said. “For numerous us, that is develop into actuality as properly, in order that’s a second you cherish along with your team-mates, along with your squad, your loved ones members, your spouse, your youngsters, your mum and pop … in order that’s one thing that I’m certain we’ll all hold very near us.

“And we also know that there’s more to come as well,” he added. “We also believe that this is not the end of it. We have that mindset of, yes, let’s go beyond. Yes, we’ve created some kind of history, but we definitely want to push further on. Defending it and winning it again, that’s the mentality.”

However, Rashid insisted that the greatness of this England staff wouldn’t be decided by their success or failure in India this winter, as a result of their legacy has already been cemented.

“It already has, I reckon, has it not?” he stated. “I mean, two World Cup wins, back to back, holding both. In terms of World Cup squads, from 2015 to this day, I don’t know if any England team has ever been any better in terms of winning series, in terms of going from No. 7 or 8 in the world, to No. 1.

“So as a squad, from 2015 till now, that period, I feel we have undoubtedly obtained one of the best England squad that is ever been.”

Many of the lessons that the white-ball team learned from 2015 onwards have now bled into England’s Test squad, with the so-called “Bazball” era being defined by an aggressive mindset with bat and ball, and a focus on enjoyment. Such were the reasons why Moeen Ali – Rashid’s long-term England team-mate and close personal friend – was tempted out of red-ball retirement to answer the call for this summer’s Ashes, despite having played his last Test in September 2021.

Though Moeen’s decision came as a surprise to many, Rashid said he had not been taken aback by the news, especially after the pair had discussed the pros and cons of a recall. “Me and him, we talked over the cellphone, simply having a chitchat, simply that factor of ‘what do you reckon?’,” Rashid stated.

“You can think about it, as a result of Mo is a world-class cricketer, in that format and in all codecs as properly. He’s executed it up to now, and when Leachy [Jack Leach] obtained injured, they needed to have anyone who’s skilled, who’s been there earlier than, who’s executed it. For them to ring Mo, it wasn’t a lot of an enormous shock from my facet.

“Obviously the way they’ve been playing for the past year now, with that positive new brand of cricket with people going out there play with freedom, it’s very similar to the white-ball set-up. The skills are now very similar, that’s been shown over the past year, and the opposition has had to find a different way of countering that, which has been a real positive and a real good thing.”