Haris Rauf has been given a NOC to play five BBL 13 matches for Melbourne Stars.
Earlier, Wahab Riaz had slammed Haris Rauf for pulling out of the Australia Test tour, despite confirming his participation at first. Rauf had cited a lack of practice and workload management for not wanting to play in the Test series down under.
Wahab in his November 20 presser had claimed that as a policy in the future, only those players would be considered who gave preference to play for the country.
Rauf, who has been a regular feature in Pakistan’s white-ball set-up, especially in the T20s, has played only one Test so far. He bowled only 13 overs in the match against England last year before injuring himself and since then, has not shown any interest in playing the long format.
Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza handed two-match ban for breaching ICC Code of Conduct
But now, Wahab Riaz explained that PCB granted the NOC strategically to maintain Haris Rauf's peak form in preparation for the upcoming T20I series in New Zealand. Pakistan will fly directly from Australia to New Zealand for a five-T20I series in January.
”From now until the New Zealand series, there is a gap of 1.5 months during which Haris Rauf isn’t playing any cricket. His contract with Cricket Australia for the Big Bash comprises only 5 games. Considering the thought that there won’t be any cricket for 1.5 months and he’s a fast bowler, to ensure he maintains his rhythm, we have given him a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from December 7th to 28th,” he said speaking to reporters.
“This will cover his 5 Big Bash matches so that he can then travel with the Pakistan team for the New Zealand tour. This is the science behind giving him the NOC,” Riaz said.
(PTI inputs)