LAHORE: Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf, who reportedly skipped Test tour of Australia, has been granted No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for playing in the Big Bash League, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday.
Alongside Rauf, two other players – pacer Zaman Khan and leg-spinner Usama Mir – have also been granted NOCs to play in Big Bash League – an Australian franchise league, set to start on December 7.
“The board has issued the NOCs considering the workload of players and the future tours programme of the national men’s team,” the PCB said.
The board noted that it understands that “this decision is in the best interests of all the stakeholders involved while balancing the importance of game time with workload management”.
Haris and Usama have been granted NOCs for a total of five matches whereas Zaman has been granted NOC for four matches.
Read More: Haris Rauf reacts to Wahab Riaz’s statement
Chief Selector Wahab Riaz, while unveiling Pakistan’s Test squad for Australia tour, had claimed that Haris Rauf was willing to be part of the team when they talked to him but changed his mind at the last minute.
“We spoke to the captain and coach, and they wanted to utilize 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,” Riaz said in a press conference.
“Our frontline Test bowling options that bowl 140+ and can create an impact are unfit, all 3 of them. As a player when you’re centrally contracted, I think you need to sacrifice in such a situation and look to play for Pakistan rather than moving back,” he had added.
It is pertinent to mention that Haris Rauf was under criticism for his dismal performance in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. He set the unwanted record of being the most expensive bowler in a single edition of the 50-over world championship.
The right-arm pacer bowled 79 overs, conceded 533 runs and bagged 16 wickets at an average of 33.31, economy of 6.74 and strike rate of 29.64 in nine World Cup 2023 matches.
