Sameen Rana: “To publicly humiliate him and issue a press release announcing the termination of his central contract, I have never seen this happen anywhere”
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Lahore Qalandars owner Sameen Rana has hit out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for their “pathetic” treatment of express bowler Haris Rauf.
Rauf, who is capable of hitting speeds close to 155 kph, had his central contract terminated after he withdrew from Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, which took place from December 2023 to January 2024.
Given that the PCB announced the 30-year-old’s central contract would be ripped up just two days before the start of the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), Rana questioned the reason behind it.
He pointed out that it did nothing but “publicly humiliate” Rauf, who subsequently had to be motivated and kept “in the right frame of mind.”
“Rauf’s our premier bowler, our highest wicket-taker after Shaheen Afridi. To publicly humiliate him and issue a press release announcing the termination of his central contract, I have never seen this happen anywhere. I would never treat my employees like that,” Rana told ESPNcricinfo.
“The employee at least has the right for you to call, email or message them. None of that happened with Rauf, and it was pathetic. It was really poor management.
“I don’t know what the PCB was thinking; I was on the receiving end. Haris was our premier fast bowler. If someone treats you like that, you can’t pretend it doesn’t affect you. Especially when it’s your country, something you’re emotional about anyway. And especially Haris, who is a naturally emotional person.
“It was an additional responsibility on me and the whole team to keep motivating him, and keeping him in the right frame of mind. He is a very strong boy, but again, a negative thought can creep into your brain. But unfortunately, after he seemed to be returning to form and performed brilliantly, he got injured. Of course we can’t control that.”
Rauf recently represented the Qalandars in PSL 9, but only featured in four matches as he suffered a dislocated shoulder that ended his campaign.
In those games he played, the Rawalpindi native only took two wickets at an average of 66 and an economy rate of 9.42.
The Qalandars, who were the defending champions coming into PSL 9, finished in last place on the points table after only winning one out 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
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