Shan Masood: “We wished for Haris Rauf to be with us in Australia for the Test series, Mark Wood did well there and we needed extra pace which he possesses but since he is not available now, we cannot do much and have to move on”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood admitted he wanted fast bowler Haris Rauf to play in the ongoing three-match Test series against Australia.
Rauf was set to be included in the 18-man squad, but pulled out at the last minute due to concerns about his workload.
Masood admitted that the 30-year-old would have been a useful asset to have due to his “extra pace”, but conceded that “we cannot do much and have to move on.”
It should be noted that Rauf is currently in Australia as he is representing the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL).
“We wished for Haris Rauf to be with us in Australia for the Test series, Mark Wood did well there and we needed extra pace which he possesses but since he is not available now, we cannot do much and have to move on,” Masood was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan lost the first Test against Australia in Perth by 360 runs and will look to bounce back in the second Test, which gets underway on December 26 in Melbourne.
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