Mickey Arthur: “We’ve been working hard on him with a new ball, and he bowled okay in patches. But when he bowls with an older ball – that’s what he’s used to”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Recently removed Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur assessed Haris Rauf’s performance with the new ball during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, saying he “bowled okay in patches.”
The 30-year-old had to step up to replace regular new ball bowler Naseem Shah, who was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury during the Asia Cup.
Arthur acknowledged that Rauf was given a role he was unfamiliar with as he generally bowls with the older ball.
In the nine matches he played, Rauf took 16 wickets at an average of 33.31.
However, he also conceded 533 runs, which is the most by any bowler in a single edition of the World Cup.
“We’ve been working hard on him with a new ball, and he bowled okay in patches. But when he bowls with an older ball – that’s what he’s used to,” Arthur was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and India before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite bouncing back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to advance to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign in disappointing fashion as England battered them by 93 runs.
Rauf was supposed to play in Pakistan’s upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, but withdrew 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
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