Birmingham: Pressure mounted on Adil Rashid as former captain Geoffrey Boycott hit out at his selection in England squad for the India series, calling the spinner a “spoilt brat”, who should not have been handed a Test recall.
“In two years England have gone around in a circle. By picking Adil Rashid, they are selecting the unselectable: a player who will not play four-day Championship cricket for Yorkshire because his heart isn’t in it but he will play for England in Test Matches. Absurd? Yes,” Boycott wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
Yorkshire have reacted angrily to England’s decision to select a player who has made himself unavailable to them for red-ball cricket this summer.
“How could he expect Yorkshire to welcome that news? He should reverse the roles and put himself in their position instead of thinking about himself. It makes him look like a spoilt brat,” Boycott, a former opener, said.
Former skipper Michael Vaughan had also questioned Rashid’s selection, prompting a sharp reaction from the spinner.
Backing Vaughan, Boycott said, “Michael Vaughan criticised him, so he hit out like a spoilt child saying Michael is stupid and nobody listens to him. Trashing a great England captain and superb batsman doesn’t go down well with the cricketing public.”
“Let me tell Adil that Vaughan will be remembered as one of the greatest England captains and an elegant, superb batsman. In 10 years nobody will remember Adil’s Test-match performances. He has played 10 Test matches, taken 38 wickets at an average of 42.78 runs. He has been expensive and not a match-winner,” he added.
