Khurram Manzoor: “There were question marks over Haris’ performance in the ODI format but he has still been included in the national ODI squad”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Veteran Pakistan batsman Khurram Manzoor has called out Director of High-Performance Aaqib Javed over the decision to pick Haris Rauf in the ODI team even though there have been doubts about his performance in the format.
Manzoor, who has scored 35 first-class and 27 List A hundreds, pointed out that Rauf continues to be selected despite not playing any domestic cricket.
Rauf’s last ODI assignment came during Pakistan’s three-match series against Australia from May to June, where he took four wickets at an average of 26.50.
“Aaqib Javed’s influence is evident in the selection. Haris Rauf doesn’t play domestic cricket, there’s a world of difference between T20 and ODI cricket, there were question marks over Haris’ performance in the ODI format but he has still been included in the national ODI squad,” Manzoor was quoted as saying by journalist Arfa Feroz Zake on X.
Rauf was not part of Pakistan’s squad for their recent two-Test series against the West Indies, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
He also isn’t featuring in the ongoing three-match Test series against England.
Pakistan Squad for England Test Series: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel (subject to fitness), Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah