Shaheen Shah Afridi: “Haris is doing fine, he’s always ready to play for Pakistan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi insisted fellow fast bowler Haris Rauf’s priorities lie with international cricket as he is always ready to play for the national team.
This comes after Rauf was heavily criticised by many people, including chief selector Wahab Riaz, for pulling out of Pakistan’s three-Test tour of Australia due to workload concerns.
Instead of featuring in that series, the 30-year-old proceeded to play for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL).
The decision to withdraw from the Australia tour came back to hurt Rauf as his central contract was terminated by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) before eventually being restored.
While Afridi refrained from saying whether the board was wrong to rescind Rauf’s central contract in the first place, he made it clear that the rapid speedster is always ready and willing to play for Pakistan.
“Haris is doing fine, he’s always ready to play for Pakistan,” he told ESPNcricinfo.
Despite missing the Australia Test series, Rauf returned to represent the men in green in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand in January 2024 and took seven wickets in four games at an average of 23 and an economy rate of 10.61.
He then played for the Lahore Qalandars in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), but had his campaign cut short after just four matches as he suffered a dislocated shoulder.
His injury resulted in him not being selected for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand in April 2024, where Afridi snapped up eight wickets in four games at an average of 10 and an economy rate of 7.38.
However, both Rauf and Afridi have been selected for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Ireland and four-match T20I series against England, which will take place from May 10 to May 30.
Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan