England leg-spinner Adil Rashid is back in the Test side and Michael Vaughan didn't like it a bit. He said the recall of Rashid to the Test squad as "ridiculous". The leggie is part of 13-man squad announced by England national selector Ed Smith on Thursday for next week's first Test against India at Edgbaston.

It was a controversial move as Rashid had signed a contract with Yorkshire where he opted out of playing red-ball County Championship cricket this season.

Responding to Vaughan's comment Rashid made it clear that the former England captain's comment doesn't matter for him. "He (Vaughan) can say a lot and he thinks people might listen. 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,” Rashid was quoted as saying by ‘BBC Sport’.

“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.”

Many cited the reason for Rashid's comeback is that one dismissal in limited-overs series which had stunned Virat Kohli. 

The spinner, who has not played a first-class match since September 2017, said, “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."

Asked if there was a lack of support from Yorkshire on his Test selection, Rashid said: “At times there can be. They might be disappointed for various reasons, but 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 was not something I expected or wanted. 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.”

Yorkshire chief executive Mark Arthur is shocked with Rashid's recall to the Test team as the bowler hasn't played red-ball cricket this season.

Commenting on this, Rashid said, “I don’t need anybody’s support in that situation. I know what I want to do and achieve. If I give 100% and it goes well, it goes well. If it doesn’t then I will still be happy. 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.”

Rashid received support from England pacer Stuart Broad who thinks his teammate is a natural wicket-taker. “I think the selectors were very keen to have someone spinning the ball away from the right-handers. He’s been in form in the white-ball stuff and bowled some beautiful deliveries against Australia and India so will be coming in with lots of confidence,” Broad was quoted as saying by ‘Sky Sports’.

“You want natural wicket-takers in your side and Adil is a proven international performer, which I think is important when you go into really big series. You want people who have withstood pressure throughout their career - Adil is someone who’s done that.”