IPL franchises were wrong to undervalue Adil Rashid and Dawid Malan, says Yorkshire CCC’s Martyn Moxon

It was a contrasting tale for the two Yorkshire players, with Rashid one of the biggest stars who went unsold, while Malan will experience the glitz and glamour of the most lucrative cricketing competition on the planet along with another Yorkshire player, Jonny Bairstow, who was previously retained by Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Moxon, the Yorkshire director of cricket, felt that Rashid would have graced the competition that is provisionally scheduled to run from April 11 to June 6 and that Malan might have attracted more suitors considering his stunning form for England.

David Willey was the other Yorkshire player unsold along with such as Alex Hales and Jason Roy.

“I was definitely surprised that Adil wasn’t picked up,” said Moxon. “I know there’s obviously huge competition with regards to spin bowlers, but I think with Adil’s record of late in white-ball cricket, it was a surprise.

“The way he’s bowled in international cricket, you would have thought he’d have done a really good job. I’m not sure what the reasons are behind it, but it did surprise me.”

Rashid, who turned 33 last week, is back in training and reporting no ill effects from his troublesome right shoulder.

The 50-over World Cup winner will fly out to India on Friday with England’s white-ball squad for the five-match T20 international series, which is followed by three ODIs.

Yorkshire hope to have Rashid available for the early stages of the T20 Blast before England’s summer white-ball games, while the leg-spinner will also be playing for the Headingley-based Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

Malan, who will be representing the Nottingham-based Trent Rockets in The Hundred along with England Test captain Joe Root, is viewed as one of the bargains of IPL by Punjab Kings coach Anil Kumble, a sentiment with which Moxon concurs.

“With Dawid’s performances in T20 cricket, it’s not a surprise that he was picked up, but it is a surprise to me that he didn’t have more interest in him,” he said.

“A bit like ‘Rash’, you would have thought he’d have had a bit more interest than he did, and I think there was only one franchise, the one that bought him, that showed interest in Dawid.

“Obviously it’s a great opportunity for him, but it will mean, clearly, that he’ll miss the start of our season (up to eight County Championship games), which is a loss to us.

“Since we signed him he’s done really well for England, which has kind of heightened his profile, and his stock has gone up in the T20 format.”

Yorkshire will soon announce a new T20 overseas signing, meaning that they will have three overseas players on their books this year.

Duanne Olivier is now classed as an overseas player after Brexit put paid to Kolpak registrations, while fellow South African pace bowler Mat Pillans is also now classed as overseas as the ancestral visa that enabled him to qualify as a domestic player no longer applies. Clubs can register three overseas players but field only two at any one time.

Olivier also faces a circuitous and complicated route back to England from South Africa, which is one of 33 countries currently on the UK’s so-called coronavirus red-list.

It is hoped that he will receive his visa early next week, at which point Yorkshire will put into place the necessary travel arrangements which will likely entail two separate quarantine periods.

Meanwhile, two of Yorkshire’s finest are in T20 action in the Pakistan Super League which starts today and runs until March 22 – batsmen Adam Lyth and Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

Lyth is back with Multan Sultans, who he represented in the last PSL, while Kohler-Cadmore is playing for Peshawar Zalmi after replacing the Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone, who was called up by England for the India T20s.

“It’s good experience for both players,” said Moxon, “and can only help us in our T20 comp.”

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