Shaheen Shah Afridi: “Haris is going through a tough time, but after difficulties come ease because he is a strong player and knows how to bounce back”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi has thrown his support behind fellow fast bowler Haris Rauf, saying he “knows how to bounce back” from tough times.
Rauf has been heavily criticised as of late for failing to take enough wickets and for leaking too many runs.
In addition to this, the 30-year-old had his central contract terminated after withdrawing from the three-match Test series against Australia and instead representing the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL).
Despite not playing in the Australia Test series, Rauf did feature in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand and took seven wickets in four games at an average of 23 and an economy rate of 10.61.
Following that, he played in the ongoing 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and claimed two wickets in four matches for the Lahore Qalandars at an average of 66 and an economy rate of 9.42.
However, he missed the remainder of PSL 9 as he dislocated his shoulder, which will take four to six weeks to heal.
Considering everything Rauf has gone through as of late, Afridi, who captains the Qalandars, is confident that the Rawalpindi native will bounce back and get back to his best in no time.
“Haris is going through a tough time, but after difficulties come ease because he is a strong player and knows how to bounce back,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas