Adil Rashid says he isn’t worried about what Michael Vaughan or any of his critics might think after being selected in the England squad for the first Test against India.
In February the leg-spin bowler signed a white-ball only contract with Yorkshire that meant he would not play in this season’s county championship.
Former England captain Vaughan has been one of the biggest critics. He said on Twitter yesterday that the decision to pick Rashid was “ridiculous”. And in today’s The Daily Telegraph, Vaughan’s opinion article was published with the headline: “England have stabbed the county game in the back by picking Adil Rashid for the Test squad.”
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Vaughan wrote: “It sends a dreadful message to call up a player who could not be bothered to play for Yorkshire last week. I do not buy [national selector] Ed Smith’s explanation that these are ‘exceptional circumstances’. Exceptional circumstances are when every other player is injured and you have nobody else to choose from.”
Rashid returns to the England Test squad for the first time since December 2016. In an interview with BBC Sport he hit back at Vaughan by calling his comments “stupid”.
Rashid said: “He can say a lot and he thinks people might listen, but I don’t think they do. There has been a lot of hoo-ha. I don’t see what the big deal is, with people talking about me being retired. I didn’t say anything about retirement, which some pundits have said.”
He added: “It was not an easy decision, but when your country wants you and asks if you are available, you cannot just say no”.
The bowler described Vaughan’s remarks as stupid. “His [Vaughan’s] opinions do not matter to anybody,” he said. “When I mentioned at the start of the year I will not be playing red-ball cricket, he tweeted something then. He was being controversial and saying his stupid things then too.”
Rashid also hit back at his critics. “There will be people out there who are not happy,” he said. “There will be haters, like the pundits who are saying it is a disgrace. That is not my fault.”
England face India in the first Test of the five-match series at Edgbaston starting on 1 August.
England Test squad for the first Test
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes
England vs. India Test fixtures
- 1-5 August: 1st Test at Edgbaston
- 9-13 August: 2nd Test at Lord’s
- 18-22 August: 3rd Test at Trent Bridge
- 30 August-3 September: 4th Test at Ageas Bowl
- 7-11 September: 5th Test at Kia Oval
