‘Haris Rauf Should Have Been Part Of The Side’, Says Shahid Afridi After Pakistan’s 2nd Test Loss To Australia

Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi opined pacer Haris Rauf should have been in the Test side after the visitors lost the second Test against Australia in Melbourne on Friday. With this loss, Pakistan trail the three-match series 0-2 with the third game to be played from January 3. Rauf withdrew from Test series citing workload management and is currently playing in the Big Bash League for Melbourne Renegades, leaving a void in Pakistan’s pace attack.

“I think Haris Rauf should be part of this side instead rather than (the BBL). 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 was quoted by ESPNCricinfo.

Former captain Shahid Afridi says Haris Rauf should have been part of the Test squad in Australia and his pace would have helped Pakistan #AUSvsPAK pic.twitter.com/IZDay5CY9z

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) December 30, 2023

Although Shaheen Shah Afridi and Aamer Jamal took eight and 12 wickets respectively, Pakistan’s pace attack lacked quality. Rauf, who has played four games so far in the ongoing BBL, went wicketless in the first two game but returned to take six wickets in his next couple of games.

Notably, Shaheen Shah’s pace has dropped too noticeably since coming out from a knee injury. However, Afridi opined that the fast bowler never had an injury. “I’ve never got the impression that Shaheen has an injury.

“If you’re injured you can’t play as a fast bowler. He knows his responsibility and how important he is to the team. The fast bowlers, we are expecting a lot from them because they’ve done well in the past. Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen etc. have performed so well we expect them to perform in every match. Relentless consistency is challenging in cricket,” he added.