Misbah-ul-Haq: “He has wasted Haris Rauf by bringing him on in the powerplay when there are only two fielders outside the circle. He should be brought on with at least a sweeper at cover and three other fielders on the leg-side deep”

Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani

Former Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq believes ex-captain Babar Azam “wasted Haris Rauf” by using the fast bowler in the powerplay.

Misbah is not a fan of the 150 kph seamer being utilised in the first 10 overs of an ODI, stating that Rauf tends to give away too many runs.

This frequently occurred during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and resulted in the 30-year-old conceding 533 runs in nine matches – the most by any bowler in a single edition of the tournament.

However, it should be noted that Rauf did take 16 wickets at an average of 33.31.

Nonetheless, Misbah pointed out that Azam should have brought Rauf on to bowl after the powerplay concluded.

“He has wasted Haris Rauf by bringing him on in the powerplay when there are only two fielders outside the circle. He should be brought on with at least a sweeper at cover and three other fielders on the leg-side deep,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Pakistan won their first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.

Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, it was not enough to get them into the semi-finals.

The men in green’s campaign ended on a sour note as England hammered them by 93 runs.

Rauf was set to be picked for Pakistan’s upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, but withdrew at the last moment due to concerns about his workload.

The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will begin 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

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