Adil Rashid
England spinner Adil Rashid. (Photo: Getty Images)

Former England captain Michael Vaughan is baffled by the fact that leg-spinner Adil Rashid gets overlooked by the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises every year.

Vaughan expressed his bafflement on his official Twitter account following a brilliant performance by England leg-spinner Adil Rashid in the first T20I of the five-match series against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday night.

Adil Rashid set the tone for what turned out to be a comfortable eight-wicket win for England.

Bowling in the powerplay, Rashid gave away just seven runs in his two overs besides claiming the prized scalp of Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

Adil Rashid, Michael Vaughan
Adil Rashid celebrates Virat Kohli’s wicket. (Photo: BCCI)

Kohli was dismissed for a five-ball duck after he mistimed an attempted cut over mid-off to hit, ending up hitting it straight to Chris Jordan.

Rashid came back in the middle-overs in which he once again proved to be miserly against the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya. He eventually ended up with figures of 1-14 in three overs.

“How Adil Rashid isn’t one of the first IPL picks is beyond me ….. #INDvENG

Adil Rashid has been one of the leading white-ball bowlers in the world in the past 4-5 years and certainly one of England’s biggest match-winners with the ball.

Despite his performances at the International level, he has never drawn the attention of IPL franchises in the auction.

Read More  RCB Playing 11 vs KKR- IPL 2024, Match 10

And, that is not because there is a question mark on his skill-level. None at all. It is because of the demand-supply dynamics of the auction. With so many quality domestic spinners already at their disposal, the franchises tend to go for seam-bowling all-rounders or out-and-out pacers, which was once again on show in the recent auction. As a result, it wasn’t really a surprise that Rashid went unsold in the 2021 IPL auction.

Also Read: IPL 2021: Damien Wright Appointed As Punjab Kings’ Bowling Coach