Englishmen excited about Rashid’s selection, Kohli’s runs

This is the silver jubilee year of the ball of the century and that one delivery by Shane Warne to dismiss Englands Mike Gatting gave leg-spin bowling a leg-up.

Now another delivery by another leg-spinner Adil Rashid to take the off-stump of Virat Kohli has created an uproar in English cricket.

Warne’s ripper to Gatting was his first delivery against England on day two of the first Test of the 1993 Ashes series at Old Trafford, Manchester. That one delivery has not only transformed Warne’s career but also gave a new image to legspin bowling.

Another leg-spinner has given his own career a boost with one delivery that pitched on the leg-stump and even before Kohli could decide what to do with it, the ball zipped past him to take the off-stump.

The comparison should end there. The discussion in the last couple of days is more on Rashid’s ability to produce an unplayable delivery than Kohli’s failure to read it. That one delivery got the England captain, coach and selectors excited.

They all were unanimous that Rashid should play the first Test against India at Edgbaston, Birmingham. There was a hitch and they all knew that Rashid’s selection could create a ruckus in domestic County cricket.

Rashid was picked despite his decision to play only white ball cricket this season for Yorkshire and not having played red ball cricket. Chief selector Ed Smith had a ready reason for bringing in Rashid into the Test squad, but not many on the county circuit are with him, they thought the move has devalued county cricket and was unfair to Somerset spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess, who have been toiling away in the domestic red ball arena.

Rashid had an escape clause when he entered into a pact with Yorkshire for playing only in the shorter formats. He had said that his decision did not mean he’s through with red ball cricket. That came in handy for selectors to justify picking him, recognizing his 23 wickets in 10 ODIs this season. But the ball that changed the minds of all the stakeholders of English cricket is that one delivery to Kohli.

Former England captain Michael Atherton and Michael Vaughan were critical of his selection, but their predecessor Ian Botham saw nothing wrong with his selection. Botham went a step ahead to offer a contract with his Durham County next season. In any case Rashid was thinking of moving to Worcester next year to join his close pal Moeen Ali. The Rashid controversy takes world cricket back to the often expressed grouse of many old-timers, who are clearly unhappy with players being picked for the Test squad on the basis of their performance in the shorter formats.