Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has terminated the central contract of their speedstar Haris Rauf and also the board will not provide any NOC to the player till 30th June.
The decision came due to his unavailability during the Australia tour. Rauf was selected for the 3-match Test series against Australia but he opted out not to be part of the squad. This created little tension between the board and the player. Pakistan’s chief selector Wahab Riaz also felt dishonest about the decision taken by Haris and quoted that it will hurt the country as he made a commitment for his availability for the series.
Later on, Haris came with a reply that he didn’t promise anything about his availability and he wanted to make his body rest so that he can perform better in ODIs and T20s.
Since he was not available in the series against Aussies, his team lost the series by 3-0 and the Aussies made it a clean sweep. Shaheen Afridi was also injured and so was Naseem Shah due to the same reason. As a result PAK was without their main pacers and lost the series.
The Board said,
“The PCB management provided a chance for a personal hearing to Haris in compliance with the principles of natural justice on 30 January 2024, and his response was found unsatisfactory," the PCB said. "Playing for Pakistan is the ultimate honour and privilege for any sportsperson. Refusal to be part of Pakistan's Test squad in the absence of any medical report or justifiable reason is a material violation of the central contract.”
PAK pacer will not be able to perform in any franchise league outside the country till 30th June as he will not be granted any NOC by the PCB.
The T20 World Cup will take place in June and Pakistan will play their first match against the United States on 6th June 2024.