Adil Rashid achieves rare and dubious distinction at Lord’s

Asked to bat in the second Test, India were bowled out for 107 in the first innings. But England didn’t need Rashid, their frontline spinner, to bowl at all in the 35.2 overs of action as the four-pronged pace attack did the job.

Similarly, in India’s second innings, which lasted 47 overs, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran did all the bowling, and Rashid mostly patrolled the outfield as England won by an innings and 159 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series.

Since almost all the Indian batsmen were bowled, trapped lbw or caught behind the stumps, Rashid didn’t have to play a role in any of them, and when England batted, they declared on 396/7 at the fall of Curran’s wicket. Rashid was due in next.

Overall, there have been 13 players to pull off the somewhat unwanted feat in 2315 Test matches over the years. Interestingly, the last man to not be called upon to do anything too critical was also an England player, and then too, it was at Lord’s.

When England hosted Bangladesh in May 2005, Gareth Batty, the off-spinner, didn’t need to bowl at all as the visitors rolled over for 108 and 159, and England hit up 528/3 before declaring their only innings.