England spinner Adil Rashid has said that he is in doubt to make a decision on what decision to take if he does not get a call-up to the England squad for their Test tour of Sri Lanka. He has not played any club cricket or the national team since the World Cup final. A new ECB rule states that the players will only be eligible for the national team selection in a format they are also playing domestically. And with his all-format contract at Yorkshire, he is at a crossroads in his career.
In an interview with The Guardian, Adil Rashid said, “I would love to [get another Test deal] but I don’t know what their vision is for me. I thought I did OK in the games I played but we got smashed by West Indies in the first Test in January and I haven’t played since.”
“If I don’t get one, I need to decide what to do next. Is it focusing on white-ball cricket again? With the injury, I do need to think about my longevity. Whatever happens, I’ll always be thankful to Ed Smith [the national selector] and Joe Root [the Test captain] and the coaches for giving me the chance,” he told.
Read here: Virat Kohli Shares the Future Plan of India
“I was upset about that,” Rashid said. “The way it was phrased meant some people could perceive it as me not wanting to play for the club. But that’s not true. I was really looking forward to the T20s. I could barely lift my arm – it was that bad. The bone was rubbing in the socket and there are [ligament] tears in there too. The England doctors confirmed the injury. And I couldn’t have any more injections. I have just got to do it the hard way, which is two months of rest,” the spinner added.
Rashid also excluded of England’s last tour to India because of an illness in the family.
“That decision was bigger than cricket – it was life or death. My grandma was on her death bed and I was going away on tour the next week. Looking back, I’m still happy I made that decision. All the decisions I make with Yorkshire and my career, I never regret. For Yorkshire fans who still don’t accept that, that’s their problem. There are some for me, some against. Sometimes it can be upsetting and I think: ‘Why am I singled out?’ You have doubts in your head about the reasons,” he added.
“But myself and Yorkshire, we’re on good terms at the moment. You can have a bit of bad engagement or disagreements over time but as long as you get back on the same page, that’s all that matters. I enjoy playing for Yorkshire and see myself representing Yorkshire in future,” he concluded.
