Pakistan team is currently in a training camp in Kakul before home New Zealand T20Is.
Notably, Rauf’s central contract was terminated after he had refused to make himself available for the Test tour of Australia in winter citing a heavy workload, but chose to honor his Big Bash contract.
PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi said that there was some misunderstanding and added that Haris in his reply had said that he was always committed to playing for Pakistan and accepted his mistake.
"After receiving his written reply the board has decided to restore his central contract. So we have decided to restore his central contract. We are also worried about Haris Rauf's fitness because he was injured during the PSL and we need to take proper care of him,” Naqvi said at a press conference.
In addition to this, Naqvi also shared insights on Shaheen Shah Afridi’s future as captain of the Pakistan T20 team will be taken after the upcoming national camp in Kakul.
According to sources in PCB, wicketkeeper Mohammed Rizwan is being tipped to take over as Pakistan captain in both white-ball formats.
“The selection committee and board are working on two or three things and the selectors will decide on the captaincy after the training camp in Kakul. The selection committee has to do some brainstorming and sit together and decide on the captain,” Naqvi said, adding that his committee is in favor of continuity.
Shaheen replaced Babar Azam as T20I captain after Pakistan’s dismal show in the ODI World Cup in India. This was after Shaheen had led Lahore Qalandars to back-to-back PSL titles.
But in his first outing as T20I captain, Pakistan suffered a 1-4 series drubbing in New Zealand. Most recently, Lahore Qalandars finished last in the PSL 2024 under Shaheen’s captaincy, leading to many questioning his leadership skills.
(PTI inputs)