Srinagar: Pakistan Chief Selelctor Wahab Riaz on Monday announced Test squad for the Australia tour and revealed that pacer Haris Rauf refused to be part of the squad at last moment.
The three-match series is scheduled to take place from December 14, 2023, to January 7, 2024 and the 18 member squad has been announced which misses name of pacer Haris Rauf.
“We spoke to Haris Rauf about this tour two days ago, and he gave his consent to playing Tests for Pakistan. However, he changed his mind last night and didn’t want to be a part of this Australia Test series,” Wahab Riaz said.
“He was worried about fitness issues and workload. We gave him assurances that we will facilitate him and accept any potential failures. Our physio said he has no injury concerns. He is fatigued, but we could have managed him well. However, he pulled out and is unavailable for this tour. I think this could hurt Pakistan cricket”.
“We spoke to the captain and coach, and they wanted to utilise Haris Rauf as an impact player in Test cricket. We weren’t demanding more than 10-12 overs a day from him, which he has done in ODIs. Our frontline Test bowling options who bowl 140+ and can create an impact are unfit, all three of them. As a player, I think you need to sacrifice in such a situation and look to play for Pakistan rather than moving back.”
Rauf has only played a one Test match for Pakistan over the course of his career after making his debut against England last year in Rawalpindi.