Haris Rauf to opt out of red ball cricket after missing Pakistan’s tour of Australia for Big Bash League?

Pakistan’s fast bowler Haris Rauf has made headlines for multiple reasons in the past few months. Be it poor performance throughout the ODI World Cup 2023 or his recent decision to opt out of test matches from Pakistan’s tour of Australia, Rauf has not had a good time in the media. 

A close source recently revealed that Haris Rauf never had plans to participate in the longest format of red-ball cricket and always wanted to stick with white-ball Cricket. As per speculations, Rauf is keen to miss the tour to participate in the Big Bash league. 

“I and the Director of Pakistan team, Mohammad Hafeez, went and spoke to him in detail the nd told him that both the captain and coach wanted him (Haris) to play in Australia as he was an impact bowler and we assured him he would not bowl more than 10-12 overs in a day in Australia. We also spoke to the team physio and trainer and they said Haris had no fitness issues and there would be no problem with him in Australia,” set the chief selector Wahab Riaz in a recent interview. 

Chief selector Wahab Riaz on Haris Rauf’s absence from Test Cricket 

A source revealed Haris Rauf had already communicated his plans about the red ball cricket with the Pakistan cricket board team management and said, “There has been discussion that if Haris is only focussed on white ball cricket then the central contact given to him also needs white-allowed since he was placed in category B which carries a monthly retainer of over 4 million rupees plus enhanced match fees, bonuses and a share in the PCB’s share of ICC revenues. Those players were given the top two categories who were considered all-format players.” 

“A NOC for playing in the Big Bash could also be withheld by the board,” the source added while talking about the players leaving national tournaments for cricket leagues like the Big Bash League hosted by the Australian cricket board. 

Pakistan’s Squad for a tour of Australia: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.