Image Credit- AP
Chief selector Wahab Riaz has slammed Pakistan fast
bowler Haris Rauf, saying it will “hurt Pakistan cricket” if he was
included in the Test squad for the Australian visit.
Wahab unveiled Pakistan’s 18-man squad during his
first news conference in the new position. However, he quickly turned the
attention on Rauf’s non-selection, accusing the player of breaking his word.
According to a close source of Rauf, the player angrily disputes the report.
“We spoke to Haris Rauf for this tour,”
Wahab said. “When we spoke to him two days ago, he gave his consent to
play Test cricket for Pakistan. But last night he changed his mind, and now he
doesn’t want to be part of this Test series. I’m revealing this because we
should be honest with officials, team-mates, and the public. We spoke to Haris
and he was worried about his body and fitness, as well as his workload.
Mohammad Hafeez and I sat with him and tried to facilitate him in every way. We
told him even if he didn’t perform well there, we would accept it.
“Our physio spoke to him and said he wouldn’t
expect any issue or injury. Of course there’s fatigue, but we were sure we
could have managed that very well. But he pulled out at the last moment and he
made himself unavailable. I think this will hurt Pakistan cricket.”
Rauf sees his conversation with Wahab in a totally
different light. Rauf never committed to playing the Test matches in Australia,
according to a source close to the player, and he had confirmed his
non-availability the night before. He informed Wahab that he wanted to improve
both his white-ball technique and his level of fitness because he hadn’t played
much red-ball cricket in the lead-up.
Wahab also discussed the other talking topics
surrounding the first Pakistani squad to be selected after Babar Azam resigned
as captain, but he kept coming back to Rauf.
“I just told you a short version of what Haris
and I spoke about,” he said. “We spoke to the captain and coach, and
we said we view Haris Rauf as an impact bowler. We weren’t demanding more than
10-12 overs a day. The only issue is when you say you’re available for
Pakistan, especially at a time when our three main high-pace bowlers, who can
bowl over 140 [kph] other than Haris are unavailable. At some point, you need
to sacrifice to play for your country. Haris was committed to us, and pulled
out after two days.”