Pakistan pace bowler Haris Rauf: “I would drop the Test format”

Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani

Pakistan fast bowler Haris Rauf has revealed that he would remove Test cricket in order to free up the packed cricket schedule.

Rauf has only represented Pakistan in one Test match, which came against England in December 2022.

However, he got injured midway through, suffering as a grade 2 strain in his right quad.

After that, questions were raised about whether the 31-year-old is really interested in playing Test cricket as he allegedly refused to play in Pakistan’s Test series against Australia from December 2023 to January 2024.

However, Rauf recently insisted that he “never refused to play Test cricket” and will “definitely play whenever I get the chance”.

Despite confirming his interest in playing Tests, Rauf now believes the best way to ease the cricket calendar is to get rid of the longest format.

“I would drop the Test format,” he was quoted as saying by A Sports.

Rauf recently represented the Lahore Qalandars in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 17 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 25.50 and an economy rate of 10.28.

He then proceeded to play in Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore and took one wicket in two games at an average of 59 and an economy rate of 11.80.

The Rawalpindi native missed the T20I tour of Bangladesh, but returned for the limited overs tour of the West Indies, where he claimed one wicket in two games at an average of 75 and an economy rate of 9.37.

As for the three-match ODI series that followed, Rauf did not feature in any of the games.

Pakistan will now participate in a T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah, which will be played from August 29 to September 7.

Following this, they will be involved in the 2025 Asia Cup, which will take place in the UAE from September 9 to 28.

Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem

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