England all-rounder Ben Stokes has backed Adil Rashid to recover from his performance on debut against Pakistan.
Rashid posted figures of 0-163 in his first Test match for his country - the worst ever record of any Test debutant - as Pakistan declared on 523-8 in the UAE.
However, Stokes was keen to praise the quality of the batting rather than pointing the finger at his fellow bowlers, and believes that Rashid is level-headed enough to bounce back.
"I think it's just to do with how good sub-continent players are against spin. We aren't looking into that deeply at all," Stokes is quoted as saying by PA.
"He doesn't seem to get down too much, or too high. I've played a bit of one-day cricket with him - and when he's done well he hasn't got outside of his box or celebrated over the top. I think he's a pretty level-minded cricketer, and I think he'll be able to put this behind him.
"It hasn't gone the way he would have wanted it to, but I heard Asad [Shafiq] say he was on his debut and they looked to target him - so it could easily have gone the other way as well. We've been here for two weeks and know how well he's been bowling in practice. Next time he has the ball in hand, we hope he can deliver something big."
England battled back to finish day two on 56-0, although they still trail by 467 runs.
Barney Corkhill
