Rashid’s last Test appearance came in Barbados in January 2019 and he has not played a first-class game since then, focusing instead on the ODI and T20 World Cups in 2019 and 2021 and managing a persistent shoulder injury that has previously required painkilling injections.
“Brendon’s reached out to me – just a text to check how things are,” Rashid told the Daily Mail. “I’ve not closed the door on Test cricket. I’ve not retired or anything like that. It’s something that’s still there. It’s everyone’s dream to play Test cricket and I’m no different.
“It’s always exciting when something new comes along. Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes both like to be positive and attacking. That drives me on and it’s very exciting.”
Rashid added that his shoulder has “been quite good now for a while, though I have to stay on top of it,” but acknowledged that “a lot else has got to happen” in order for a Test recall to become a realistic proposition.
That would include a stint playing County Championship cricket for Yorkshire in September, the only realistic window in Rashid’s schedule to make a red-ball return. “If he wants to restart his red-ball career, playing for us would be the best place to do that,” Ottis Gibson, Yorkshire’s coach, said earlier this year.
“We would love to have him and I’ve told him that but he’s made his decision. I’ve told him we would love him to play some red-ball cricket if down the line it’s something he’d like to do.”