Undroppable Adil Rashid shows value for England | ‘He’s stacking up the performances’ | Cricket News

Adil Rashid is one of the first names on England’s team sheet in white ball cricket, according to Tymal Mills, after another excellent performance in Bangladesh.

England convincingly beat Bangladesh by 132 runs on Friday, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

After posting 326-7, England bowled out the hosts for just 194, with Sam Curran and Adil Rashid taking four wickets each.

Rashid’s figures of 4-45 followed up two wickets in the first ODI to take him to 181 wickets in the format, the third-highest in English history.

With Darren Gough and James Anderson in his sights, Rashid will likely play a key role for England at the World Cup in India later this year.

Speaking after the second ODI, England seamer Mills said: “He was brilliant once again and picked up where he left off in the first match.

“He used all three of his variations, again proving why he is one of the first names on the team sheet. ‘Rashy’ is again stacking up the performances.

“England adapted much better come game two. Bangladesh took a big step back today and England learned, especially with the bat, from the first match.”

It was Curran who got England off to a brilliant start with the ball, taking three wickets in his first two overs.

But Bangladesh fought back with a good fourth-wicket partnership between Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan.

The hosts, though, couldn’t get a stranglehold on the game and England’s spin twins took control of the middle overs to prevent what would have been a dramatic run chase.

After Moeen Ali took the wicket of Tamim in the 20th over, Rashid took four wickets through the middle overs to take the game beyond Bangladesh, including the key wicket of Shakib, who looked comfortable on 58.

On a spinning pitch, he continuously threatened the batters, who never looked comfortable and got his just rewards in the end.

The leg-spinner showed his importance to the England side during last year’s T20 World Cup and has once again proved key in a historic series win against Bangladesh, who were unbeaten in their last seven ODI series at home.

With the series wrapped up, Rashid might be rested by Jos Buttler, who could hand Rehan Ahmed an England ODI debut.

Rashid has been picked up by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL this year and will have plenty of practice ahead of the World Cup in India as he proves indispensable in the current England side.

What’s next?

England move to Chattogram for the third game of the three-match ODI series in Bangladesh on Monday.

Live coverage starts from 5.30am on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event, with play getting under way from 6am. The teams then face off in a three-match T20 international series, starting on March 9 also in Chattogram.

Watch England’s three-match ODI tour of Bangladesh live on Sky Sports and stream on NOW TV.