Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi commented on fast bowler Haris Rauf’s absence from the Australia Test series, saying that he should be a part of the national side instead of playing in Aus-tralia’s Big Bash League (BBL).
White-ball specialist Rauf, who has played only one Test and nine first-class matches in his career, pulled out of the three-match series against Australia and opted to compete for the BBL’s Melbourne Stars.
Players stand to earn more from franchise cricket than international cricket, with Australia’s BBL a particularly enticing prospect for Pakistan’s cricketers, who are banned from the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL).
After a brief standoff with Pakistan’s cricket board (PCB), Rauf was given permission earlier this month to make a limited appearance in the BBL, in which the 30-year-old has played four matches and taken six wickets.
“I think Haris should be part of this side instead, rather than (the BBL),” Afridi, who led the country in test cricket, one-day internationals and T20 between 2009 and 2016, told reporters on the sidelines of the second Test in Melbourne on Friday.
“In these conditions, the kind of pace he has, he would have performed well and enjoyed himself on the kinds of pitches Australia prepared in Perth and here.”
Afridi also said that Shaheen Shah Afridi had never told him that he had an injury, adding that a fast bowler can never play with an injury. “It be-comes difficult for every player to perform in every match,” said the former skipper.
He added that Shaheen, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Rizwan have performed well in the past and will continue to do so. “Babar Azam performs with consistency which I have rarely seen,” he said.
Afridi also hoped that PCB team director Mohammad Hafeez and Chief Selector Wahab Riaz would make a good selection for the team, adding that a player can be given rest if he is not performing well.
“You can’t give rest for the complete series but for a single match,” he said. The third and final test of the series will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.—Agencies
