Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], February 12 : With a four-wicket haul in the third ODI against India on Wednesday, Adil Rashid etched his name in the history book by becoming just the seventh England player to take 400 international wickets.
The seasoned leg-break spinner wreaked havoc in Ahmedabad with his pace variation and returned with figures of 6/64 in his 10-over spell. After his influential performance, Rashid's tally in international cricket across all formats stands at 403 scalps in 289 matches, averaging 31.00 while maintaining striking at 34.17.
Rashid's tally is only bettered by England legends, including James Anderson (991), Stuart Broad (847), Ian Botham (528), Darren Gough (466), Graeme Swann (410) and Robert Willis (403).
The 36-year-old began his dominance by dismissing stalwart Virat Kohli (52). A flighted delivery on the stumps with a touch of drift from Rashid did the trick for England. Virat lunged forward only to give away an edge to Phil Salt behind the stumps, becoming Rashid's 400th international wicket.
Rashid then returned to attack to clean up Shubman Gill (112) moments after his century. Gill attempted a sweep shot, but the ball passed under his bat, crashing into the middle and leg stumps.
The English ball tweaker continued to reign supreme in Ahmedabad by implementing his experience to good effect. He lured Shreyas Iyer (78) to give away a thin edge to Salt, who took a sharp catch behind the stumps.
Rashid's final dismissal of the day turned out to be Hardik Pandya (17). With shades of legendary Shane Warne, Rashid beat Pandya's outside edge and crashed into the middle and off stump.
The English spinner decoded how pace variation helped him to thrive in the third ODI and said after the mid-innings, "Lots of practice, but also about identifying what you are as a leg spinner. Once you get the ball in the right area with revs and drift in, it makes it difficult. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."
Rashid's efforts went into vain as India managed to defend 356 with a 142-run victory and sweep the series away with a 3-0 scoreline.