ENG vs IND 2018: 'Bored' Michael Vaughan's Opinions Do Not Matter To Anybody: Adil Rashid
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Adil Rashid has shot back at Michael Vaughan after the former England skipper slammed the spinner’s inclusion in the Test side.
Rashid’s selection in the 13-man squad for the first Test against India has caused quite a stir in English cricket. The leg-spinner’s last Test appearance was against India in Chennai more than 18 months ago. To make matters worse, Rashid had also signed a contract with Yorkshire where he opted out of playing red-ball County Championship cricket this season. Traditionally, performance in the championship has been instrumental in deciding to pick a player for Tests.
Not surprisingly, Rashid’s inclusion has attracted severe criticism. England preferred him over the likes of Dom Bess and Jack Leach despite Rashid seemingly abandoning his immediate Test ambitions.
And Vaughan had led the outcry by calling the decision ‘ridiculous’.
However, it has not gone down well with Rashid who minced no words in slamming the Ashes-winning skipper.
“He can say a lot and he thinks people might listen, but I don’t think they do,” Rashid told BBC Sport.
“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. It was not an easy decision. But when your country wants you and asks if you are available, you cannot just say no,” he added.
Writing in the Telegraph, Vaughan called Rashid “a bit dozy” and “unprofessional” for not “being bothered” to play for Yorkshire against Lancashire in the County Championship last week.
In reply, Rashid said:
“His opinions do not matter to anybody.
“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.
“A lot of people have got no interest in what he says. It is about getting people to like what he says.
So we have picked someone who cannot be arsed with 4 day cricket for the Test Team … Forget whether he is good enough or not I find this decision ridiculous … !!!
“I don’t think he has an agenda against me. I played under and with him but sometimes ex-players come out and start talking nonsense about current players. If he wants to carry on talking just because he is bored with nothing better to say, then that is his choice.
“There will be people out there who are not happy. There will be haters, like the pundits who are saying it is a disgrace. That is not my fault,” he added.
Rashid has played ten Tests so far, taking 38 wickets. His Test career came to an abrupt end when he was not picked for the previous Ashes despite being the highest wicket-taker on the Test tour of Bangladesh and India in 2016-17.
Meanwhile, the five-Test series gets underway in Birmingham on August 1.
