England captain Harry Brook defended the decision to leave Adil Rashid out of the playing XI for Thursday's ODI against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi, even as England failed to defend a total of 429 and lost by two wickets with one ball remaining. Sri Lanka reached 430 for 8 to complete the second-highest successful run-chase in ODI history.
Brook scored 202 off 116 balls to become England's first ODI double centurion and broke Shubman Gill's record for the format's quickest-ever double hundred. Despite that record-breaking innings, he was clear-eyed about what it meant in the context of the result. Brook insisted that his own performance was irrelevant given the result.
"I always say I want to make match-winning contributions and have a match-winning impact. Unfortunately, I've got 200 and it's not been match-winning - so in my eyes, it doesn't matter," Brook said in the post-match press conference after the Sri Lanka clash, as quoted by Cricinfo.
Why was Rashid left out of England's XI?
Rashid has featured in 159 of England's 186 men's ODIs since June 2015 and is the side's second-highest wicket-taker in the format. He has occasionally missed matches through injury, including September's ODIs against Sri Lanka, and was left out of the squad against Australia immediately after the 2022 T20 World Cup. England confirmed he was fit and available in Rawalpindi, making Thursday's decision a purely tactical one, with left-arm spinner Liam Dawson selected ahead of him.
Against Pakistan in the opener, Rashid had returned figures of 1 for 55 from eight overs. Across his past 10 ODI matches, he has taken 12 wickets at an average of 39.58 and an economy rate of 6.01, a run of form that has been relatively modest compared to his earlier standards. Brook pointed to Dawson's figures as justification for the call. Dawson took 1 for 71 from 10 overs, the tightest return of any England bowler on the day.
"[Even] in hindsight, I don't know," Brook said. We brought Daws in for Rash, and I think Daws was probably the pick of the bowlers. He kept the stumps in play for the majority of the game and I thought Daws was probably our best bowler today," Brook said.
Speaking after the Sri Lanka game, former England captain Nasser Hussain suggested that Rashid had 'just dropped off' and that Brook's team need him back to his best ahead of next year's World Cup. He pointed to the team struggling to take wickets in the middle overs, and showed for the need for an x-factor bowler in the side.
"In the last two or three years, if you look at all the tables and all the stats, England have struggled to take wickets in the middle overs. That, for me, is a box that England need to tick. Obviously you'll get [Jofra] Archer back and that will help [provide] a little bit of firepower. Maybe Adil's just come off his best as well, a little bit. He was left out today. I think today showed the need for Archer, a bit of firepower and the need for Adil Rashid to get back to his best because we all big up Adil, but he's just dropped off - maybe because of injuries, but we need Adil Rashid to get back to his best," Hussain said on Sky Sports.
What happens next for England in the tri-series?
England face Pakistan on Sunday in Lahore as the tri-series continues, and Rashid is expected to be in contention to return to the XI for that fixture. England have also brought Mason Crane on tour as back-up legspinner, having preferred him to Rehan Ahmed in that role, though Crane is yet to feature in the series. England's bowling as a unit will need to improve considerably after conceding 430 in Rawalpindi. Brook acknowledged as much in his post-match comments.
"We can take a lot of learnings from that game. The bowling, we probably didn't execute - well, we definitely didn't execute what we were trying to do for long enough. We wanted to keep the stumps in play as much as we possibly can. We were probably erring on the shorter side, which played into their hands," Brook said.
