LAHORE: Wahab Riaz, the head of the national men’s selection committee, said that fast bowler Haris Rauf pulled out of the Australian tour at the last minute resulting in his absence from the Pakistan squad.
Wahab Riaz told during the press conference that Haris Rauf was in the plans for the Test series against Australia, however, he changed his mind at the last minute.
“We spoke to Haris Rauf about this tour, and he gave his consent to participate in the Test series. However, he changed his mind later and opted to back out of the series,” Wahab Riaz said.
Wahab Riaz further explained the reason for Haris Rauf opting to stay out and his fitness condition.
“He was worried about fitness issues and workload, although we gave him assurances that we would facilitate him and accept any potential failures,” said Riaz. “Our physio said he has no injury concerns. He is only fatigued, but we could have managed him well. However, he pulled out and is unavailable for this tour.”
He also shed light on how the team management had planned to utilise him
“We had planned to utilise Haris Rauf as an impact bowler in our Test plans, after discussions with the captain and team director. We needed him to bowl 10-15 overs, which he has bowled in ODIs too,”
Haris Rauf represented Pakistan in a single test against England in the home Test series last year, where he picked only one wicket.
Pakistan’s squad will partake in a training camp from 23 to 28 November at Pindi Cricket Stadium before departing from Lahore on 30 November.
Pakistan will kick off the Test series with the first Test in Perth from 14-18 December 2023.
Pakistan squad for the tour of Australia
Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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