England leg-spinner Adil Rashid on Saturday (March 13) said that he was not disappointed after going unsold at the IPL 2021 auction last month.
In fact, Rashid was not expecting to be picked at the first place because of the large number of spinners in the league.
Despite his impressive showing at the international level in recent years, Rashid has never caught the attention of IPL franchises.
"I wouldn't say disappointing, obviously there are a lot of spinners out there, India also got their own local spinners, so I wasn't really expecting my self to be picked," Rashid said on the eve of the second T20I against India.
"It would be nice to get these deals but like I said, with these tournaments, you put your name forward and and hope a teams picks you... that's how it works with the IPL or any other competitions," he added.
England skipper Eoin Morgan’s strategy of handing the new ball to Adil Rashid worked as he dismissed the Indian captain Virat Kohli for a five-ball duck in the T20I series opener on Friday (March 12).
Rashid returned with the figures of 1 for 14 in his 3 overs as England restricted India to a modest 124/7 in 20 overs and eventually won the match by 8 wickets with 27 balls left.
"Bowling with the new ball is new for me now (he did so a decade back for Yorkshire and in Australia), something I have been working on for past couple of days.
"Hope I can carry on with that regardless of the situation, whether it's first six (overs), middle or back, I am always looking to develop and work hard.
"That's something I have been doing in the nets, bowling to batsmen with the new ball, in case I am needed, I am really focussed on every part of the game.
Rashid has been concentrating on white-ball cricket since recovering from a shoulder injury. He admitted that he isn’t yet ready for the rigours of Test cricket, where one is required to bowl long spells.
"Test cricket or Ashes has not really crossed my mind. There is a world cup and there is a lot of cricket before that, let's see how it goes. I am focussing on white ball cricket at the moment."
(With PTI inputs)
