Adil Rashid has hit back at Michael Vaughan’s criticism of his Test recall, labelling him ‘stupid’, and suggested the lukewarm reaction of Yorkshire could result in him quitting the club.
Vaughan had described the inclusion of Rashid in England’s squad ahead of Wednesday’s first Test against India at Edgbaston as ‘ridiculous’, arguing that the selectors had chosen a bowler who ‘cannot be a***d with four-day cricket’ after he opted for a white-ball county contract.
But the normally mild-mannered Rashid refused to take the dig lying down.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid is back in England’s Test squad after impressing in white-ball cricket
‘He can say a lot and he thinks people might listen,’ said Rashid. ‘A lot of people have got no interest in what he says. 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.
‘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 haters, like the pundits who are saying it is a disgrace. That is not my fault. I don’t see what the big deal is. It was not an easy decision, but when your country wants you and asks if you are available, you cannot just say no.’
Rashid is not the first England player this summer to lash out at Vaughan. Stuart Broad said he lacked ‘insight’ into the dressing-room after Vaughan suggested during the Test series against Pakistan that England might consider dropping either Broad or Jimmy Anderson.
Now, as then, Vaughan himself was quick to respond, tweeting: ‘I am stupid for wanting someone to prepare to play the No1 Test team in the world by playing a 4 day game with the red ball !!!!!! #WorldGoneNuts.’
Michael Vaughan criticised England for recalling Rashid ahead of next week’s Test with India
However, he was not the only target of Rashid’s ire, following Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur’s suggestion that the county were ‘very surprised’ by his recall, and a plea that sounded more like a warning: ‘I hope that England know what they’re doing to Adil and the county game.’
Rashid told BBC Sport: ‘It would have been nice if the chief executive or head coach could have said, “Well done, congratulations on being selected, good on you”, as opposed to being angry and upset for not playing red-ball cricket for them, even though I told them I would not be doing so.
‘I did not do anything wrong in that sense. There is no reason for Yorkshire to react like this. It would have been nice to have got the support from your county or the people close to you, but if they do not want to give their support, that is their problem.
‘If they treat me like they have done, don’t see any value in me and are disrespectful to me, I have to think about the future in terms of which county I play for.’
England star Rashid, pictured in Test action in 2016, has angrily blasted back at Vaughan