Former Pakistan skipper feels Haris Rauf should have played Test series against Australia

Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf opted out of the ongoing three-match Test series against Australia. He opted for the ongoing Big Bash League 2023-24 for Melbourne Stars. Rauf has played a Test, against England last December before being ruled out due to injury. Also, after conceding for than 533 runs during the ODI World Cup 2023, the right-arm pacer seems to be staying away from longer formats.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has said that Rauf could have played in the Test series instead of BBL 2023-23. The former believes that the wickets in Australia could have assisted Rauf.

“I think Haris [Rauf] should be part of this side instead rather than [the BBL],” Afridi, speaking to media at the MCG, said.” In these conditions, the kind of pace he has, he would have performed well and enjoyed himself on the kinds of pitches Australia prepared in Perth and here.

I have never got the impression that Shaheen Afridi has an injury: Shahid Afridi

On the other hand, the T20 World Cup 2009 winner added that he doesn’t feel Shaheen Afridi has any injury.

“I’ve never got the impression that Shaheen has an injury. If you’re injured you can’t play as a fast bowler. He knows his responsibility and how important he is to the team. The fast bowlers, we are expecting a lot from them because they’ve done well in the past. Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen etc. have performed so well we expect them to perform in every match. Relentless consistency is challenging in cricket.

“I have always said that unless our bench is strong we won’t be able to take the best decisions. The A team should be as strong as the main team, so if Shaheen or Babar or Rizwan aren’t strong, we shouldn’t have the excuses of players being unavailable, like we do with Naseem now. When our bench is strong, we will no longer have excuses.”