Aaqib Javed: “Bowlers like Haris Rauf are scarce; they are the backbone of Lahore Qalandars and Pakistan’s bowling”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Lahore Qalandars head coach Aaqib Javed said bowlers like 150 kph speedster Haris Rauf are very special because they are hard to find.
Rauf has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons lately as he has been criticised for conceding too many runs when bowling.
In addition to this, his central contract was terminated after he pulled out of Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia from December 2023 to January 2024.
The 30-year-old’s last assignment with the men in green was the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, where he took seven wickets in four games at an average of 23 and an economy rate of 10.61.
Rauf was recently in action for the Qalandars in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), but only took two wickets in four games at an average of 66 and an economy rate of 9.42.
His campaign ended prematurely as he suffered a dislocated shoulder, which will take four to six weeks to heal.
Despite everything Rauf has been through, Aaqib said there is no denying the talent he has and called him “the backbone” of the Qalandars and Pakistan’s bowling attack.
“Bowlers like Haris Rauf are scarce; they are the backbone of Lahore Qalandars and Pakistan’s bowling,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
The Qalandars were the defending champions coming into PSL 9, but they failed to make the playoffs as they finished at the bottom of the points table after winning just one of the 10 games they played.
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
[TS_Poll id=”111″]