NEWS
Follow UsWhen Adil Rashid dismissed Glenn Maxwell in the second One-Day International (ODI) against Australia at Headingley, he became the first England spinner to touch the 200-wicket mark in the 50-over format. The leg-spinner might be 36 but has made it clear that he is not thinking about retirement at all.
England have been struggling in white-ball cricket of late but Rashid has been consistent with the ball, regularly doing his job in the middle overs. There are three major ICC white-ball tournaments - the 2025 Champions Trophy, the 2026 T20 World Cup and the 2027 ODI World Cup - coming up in the next few years, and England will need their premier spinner to be available.
"I have not thought about it [retirement] yet. Keep playing, enjoy it, stay fit, bowl well, contribute to wins, hopefully, World Cups and Champions Trophies - that is my ultimate aim,” said Rashid before the third ODI against Australia at Chester-le-Street on September 24 (Tuesday).
"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. To play for this long and take the wickets I have, I'd never, ever dreamt of that, so hopefully, I can carry it on.
“It's been an enjoyable ride with ups and downs, and hopefully, I can stay on the up for the remainder of my career. 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."
Moeen Ali has already retired from international cricket, while the other upcoming England spinners are yet to prove themselves at this level. Liam Livingstone has been good with his off and leg spin but can’t be England’s lead spinner. Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks are other spin-bowling all-rounders involved in the ongoing series against Australia, while there’s also Rehan Ahmed waiting in the wings.
"Moeen’s a big miss for the team and a big miss for me because we're really good friends on and off the pitch. He's made that decision and got another chapter of his life with the remainder of his career, and I'm sure he'll do wonders. With Mo not being there my input will obviously be a little bit more, speaking to the youngsters and them coming to me," added Rashid.
"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 that 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 No. 1 spinner."
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