Adil Rashid says steroid injections let him play through England's World Cup campaign

The legspinner played his first cricket since July's World Cup final in New Zealand on Sunday ahead of England's five-match T20 tour

Adil Rashid has revealed that steroid injections were essential to his participation in England's victorious World Cup campaign.

After bowling eight wicketless overs in the World Cup final, damage to his right shoulder prematurely ended his summer, keeping him out of Ashes contention and limiting him to just three appearances in Yorkshire colours in 2019.

Having made his competitive return with the scalps of Tim Seifert and Anton Devcich in the opening warm-up fixture for England's five-match T20 tour of New Zealand, Rashid told BBC Sport he hopes to continue his recovery when the series gets under way on Friday.

"From three months ago to now, it's got a lot better. I would still say it's not 100 per cent but that's something I'm working towards and hopefully I can get that soon," he said.

"I've still not quite got my snap that I would like, personally, but hopefully that will come as time goes on, maybe before the first T20.

"But at this moment in time, it's something that I've got to really drive towards and look forward to getting it stronger."

^{Rashid has joined Northern Superchargers for next year's Hundred competition}

Despite sitting out just one of England's pre-tournament matches against Pakistan, Rashid's place in the squad remained in serious doubt as he found himself struggling to move his bowling arm.

However, he has now thanked cortisone injections for allowing him to compete in the tournament, in which he picked up 11 wickets at 47.81 as one of eight players to play in each of England's 11 outings.

"If I didn't take the injection, I don't reckon I would have played a part because it was actually that bad. Before the injection it was painful. I actually couldn't lift my arm with the ball.

"One was literally a week before the World Cup, one was a month and a half before that. The steroid injection helped a lot.

"I'm just happy I got through the World Cup, tried to the best of my ability with the shoulder I had and I'm quite happy with how things turned out."

With one more fixture against a New Zealand XI on Tuesday before the series with the Blackcaps begins, Rashid will now rest to allow Lancashire legspinner Matt Parkinson to make his debut in senior England colours.

Ahead of the tour, Rashid has also taken time to reflect on a trip to his parents' homeland of Pakistan after an earthquake in September in the Kashmir region killed 40 and injured 850 more.

Rashid worked with the charity Islamic Relief to visit affected areas and assist in distributing materials to aid ongoing recovery efforts.

"There was a lot of destruction at the time I was doing my rehab, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to go and see what had happened, how bad the damage was and for me to give a helping hand.

"It does put things in perspective. That's life and death. Our problems are playing a game we enjoy. You have a good day, you have a bad day.

"How I look at life is that as a cricketer I give everything 100 per cent, but there is a bigger picture out there than just sport."