England bowler Adil Rashid shrugs off retirement rumours - 'I have not thought about calling it a day anytime soon'

England bowler Adil Rashid has not even thought about ending his international cricket career, and has full focus on restoring the Three Lions back to the top of white-ball cricket. The 2019 World Cup winners are undergoing a serious squad overhaul, with Rashid and Jofra Archer the only two survivors from the trophy-winning side of five years ago.

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Adil Rashid has dismissed rumours that he could retire from international cricket in the near future.

The leg spinner is one of only two players - alongside the pace bowler Jofra Archer - remaining from the 2019 England squad that won the World Cup.

Rashid, who plays his domestic cricket for Yorkshire, is 36 years old and is the oldest member of the white-ball squad.

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He has kept his place despite other older statesmen in the side, like Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow, being replaced by those of a younger age profile.

England are in the middle of a five-game one-day international series against Australia, and are down 2-0 having lost the first two matches by seven wickets and 68 runs, respectively, at Trent Bridge and Headingley.

The Three Lions are gearing up for the third ODI on Tuesday, which will be played at Chester-le-Street, but Rashid’s focus is well and truly on the Australians, rather than whether he will call time on his illustrious career.

Rashid has made 136 ODI appearances and played 19 Tests, taking a total of 259 wickets.

He became the third Englishman to reach 200 wickets in the one-day format at Headingley last weekend, where he took two wickets.

"I have not thought about [retirement] yet," Rashid told the BBC. "Keep playing, enjoy it, stay fit, bowl well, contribute to wins, hopefully World Cups and Champions Trophies - that is my ultimate aim.

"I have not thought about retiring or calling it a day any time soon. I'm playing each game and each series as it comes and if I'm still enjoying it and performing well, I'll keep carrying on."

England, under the interim watch of Marcus Trescothick, are preparing for the Champions Trophy in February next year, when Brendon McCullum will turn his attentions to the white-ball squad.

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The potential appearances and recalls of some big names - including Joe Root, Ben Stokes, and Jos Buttler - are up in the air, although Ali has since retired from international cricket following his omission from the squad for the Australia series.

Rashid labelled the bowler as his "best friend", and misses having the Warwickshire man around, but said that the big changes around the squad would take time to bed in.

"We always have that banter and vibes," Rashid said. "That's not there anymore but that is life. Everything moves on.

"There have been big changes, new batters, new bowlers. It will take time. It will always take time when it is a rebuilding process. We have got every base covered in terms of bowling, batting, keeping.

"Everything is there for us. All we have to do now is play the game of cricket, enjoy it, string a few games together of winning and then off we go."

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