Bayliss tempted by Rashid for The Oval

The England coach Trevor Bayliss has said he is "very" tempted by the idea of playing Adil Rashid as part of a twin-spin attack in the final Test against Pakistan at The Oval, but even if he does not feature this week has indicated Rashid will start the series in the subcontinent later in the year.

Rashid, who played three Tests against Pakistan in the UAE last year, has been part of the squad since the Old Trafford Test and Bayliss said he had come close to playing in the last two matches before England opted to retain the balance of four quicks and Moeen Ali as the spinner.

While there have been reports that The Oval pitch will suit England in the final Test, with pace and bounce, recent evidence has been of it offering some help for the spinners. The last time England played two spinners in a home Test was at The Oval, against Australia in 2013, when Simon Kerrigan made his debut.

Having been omitted from the third Test, Rashid returned to play for Yorkshire in the County Championship against Warwickshire, where he took 7 for 61 in the match. A notable part of Rashid's role in that game was running through the lower order, which is something Bayliss believes he could bring to the Test side.

"Very," Bayliss said when asked how tempted he was by the thought of Rashid playing. "I think we saw last year at The Oval, the wicket had a bit in it for everyone. Nathan Lyon bowled very well there, got some spin and bounce out of the wicket. I've thought Rashid's been a chance for the last two or three Tests that we've played. At some stage he will get an opportunity.

"Obviously, we are going to the subcontinent, so he's probably the guy who will get the first opportunity there. Having a legspinner will help when the wicket is turning, that we can knock over the tail a bit easier."

There are a couple of ways England could fit Rashid into their side; they could drop a pace bowler or back Rashid's ability as an allrounder and leave either James Vince or Gary Ballance out of the middle order. It is unlikely England will follow either path at The Oval after the all-round success of the attack at Edgbaston, while Ballance made 70 in the first-innings and Vince again earned the backing of the coach after scoring 81 runs in the Test even though he twice fell in familiar fashion edging to the slips.

However, further down the line in Bangladesh, should the tour go ahead, and India, Bayliss offered the hint that playing Rashid as another allrounder would be high up England's thinking - especially when Ben Stokes is available again.

"Ben Stokes is a big part of that. If he is in the team as one of four pace bowlers, you could have two spinners. If he was one of three pace bowlers, you might even have three spinners.

"If the wickets are anything like South Africa had in India, that's a possibility. I'd say at this stage we'd definitely be taking three spinners to India. But I think the case for playing two is a definite."

For now, it is likely England will stick to their current balance of having Moeen as the one spinner for the final Test. Moeen produced his best spell of the summer in the second innings at Edgbaston - sending down 15 overs either side of lunch - and claimed the key wicket of Azhar Ali, which opened the door for England's push towards victory when the ball started to reverse.

Moeen, who was named Man of the Match, has been under pressure throughout this series. He has constantly been targeted by the Pakistan batsmen, something which continued in Birmingham, but has continued to chip in with wickets and now has nine in the series at 39.33, albeit his economy stands at 4.36. He worked with Saqlain Mushtaq during the Old Trafford Test and, on the final afternoon at Edgbaston, managed to pitch the ball consistently on a full length with a touch more loop.

"The spell just after lunch that he and Broad put together in partnership there, quite simply the difference with his bowling in that spell was his discipline of length," Bayliss said.

"We've all seen him before probably falling a little bit short, but I thought that spell he got it pretty much spot on, bowled a little bit wider of the off stump into the rough, coming into the stumps and putting the pressure on the batter. It's a bit harder then to run down the wicket and hit over the top and play reverse sweeps and sweeps. I thought he put the pressure on very well there."

England's victory has given them a chance to ascend to the top of the world rankings if they finish the series 3-1 and India do not secure a 3-0 victory over West Indies. Bayliss did not quite say it was a position they were ready for but, as Alastair Cook acknowledged after the Test when he talked about the side "toughening up", he was encouraged by the comeback during a match they had been behind in for more than two days.

"It does give the guys confidence that they can win games from a little bit behind, that anything's possible," he said. "I still think we are a little way off. I thought there were signs in this game that some of the more inexperienced players were starting to show a little bit of maturity."