The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Thursday the termination of fast bowler Haris Rauf’s central contract with the national team.
In a statement issued by the national cricket governing body, it was revealed that Rauf has been penalized following an investigation into his decision to decline joining Pakistan’s Test squad for the tour of Australia 2023-24.
The decision was made subsequent to a comprehensive hearing and probe conducted by a committee formed by the PCB, which took into account the perspectives of all parties involved.
Rauf’s central contract has been revoked effective from December 1, 2023, and he will not be granted any No Objection Certificate (NOC) to participate in any foreign league until June 30, 2024.
The statement mentioned that Rauf was given an opportunity for a personal hearing on January 30, 2024, in accordance with the principles of natural justice, but his response was deemed unsatisfactory.
The PCB emphasized that representing Pakistan is the highest honor and privilege for any athlete and refusing to be part of the Test squad without a valid medical report or justification constitutes a significant breach of the central contract.
Rauf, who had opted out of the away Test series against Australia played from December 2023 to January 2024, citing concerns about workload and fitness, preferred to participate in the Big Bash League (BBL) instead, which was also ongoing in Australia at the time.
Despite earlier expressing concerns about his workload and fitness, Rauf had been declared fit by the Pakistan team’s physio. He has only appeared in one Test match against England in 2022 and has minimal experience in first-class cricket with nine matches, but has a notable track record of over 200 white-ball games across various formats.
A week prior to the Australia Test tour, Rauf had attributed his withdrawal to insufficient red-ball practice in his response to the PCB’s show cause notice.
According to the notice, centrally contracted players are expected to be unconditionally available for the national team, but the 30-year-old indicated his unavailability for the three matches.
Rauf faced severe criticism from Chief Selector Wahab Riaz and former cricketers for his refusal to participate in the longer format.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
