Saeed Ajmal: “I’ve been saying this for a long time to not make Haris bowl with the new ball. His overs with the new ball have not been so good lately”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Newly-appointed Pakistan spin bowling coach Saeed Ajmal wants 150 kph fast bowler Haris Rauf to stop bowling with the new ball as he has been very ineffective.
Rauf has been leading too many runs lately, which has led to him coming under heavy criticism.
During the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, he conceded 533 runs in nine matches, which is the most by any bowler in a single edition of the tournament.
However, it should be noted that the 30-year-old claimed 16 wickets at an average of 33.31.
Instead of Rauf bowling with the new ball, Ajmal suggested that Pakistan mix things up and give spinners Mohammad Nawaz or Usama Mir a chance.
“I’ve been saying this for a long time to not make Haris bowl with the new ball. His overs with the new ball have not been so good lately. He should be given his first over after the powerplay [and] instead of him maybe give Nawaz or Usama an over,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan began by triumphing over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite bouncing back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to book their spot in the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign in dismal fashion as England demolished them by 93 runs.
Rauf was supposed to play for Pakistan in their upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, but pulled out of the tour due to workload concerns.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will get underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer 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