Melbourne, Australia
Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said that pace bowler Haris Rauf should have been part of the squad playing Tests in Australia. Rauf, notably, had excused himself from being available for the selection citing workload management. The pacer, however, played four games in Australia's domestic T20 tournament Big Bash League (BBL) as Pakistan played the Tests.
Afridi made the comments while speaking to media at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) where the second Test between Australia and Pakistan is currently being played.
"I think Haris [Rauf] should be part of this side rather than [the BBL]," Afridi said. "In these conditions, the kind of pace he has, he would have performed well and enjoyed himself on the kinds of pitches Australia prepared in Perth and here," he added.
The former skipper also highlighted the need to focus on improving the bench strength and have an A team as good as the main team.
"I have always said that unless our bench is strong we won't be able to take the best decisions. The A team should be as strong as the main team, so if Shaheen or Babar or Rizwan aren't strong, we shouldn't have the excuses of players being unavailable, like we do with Naseem now. When our bench is strong, we will no longer have excuses," said Afridi.
As for the second Test, Pakistan failed to capitalise after bringing Australia down to 16/4 in the second innings as the hosts went on to score 262 runs. Australia had scored 318 runs in their first innings and bowled out the visitors for 264 to take a lead of 54 runs.
Pakistan, chasing 317 to win the Test, had scored 129/3, with Babar Azam batting on 35 along with Saud Shakeel on 10 at tea on Day 4. Pakistan currently trail 1-0 in the three-match series after losing the first Test by 360 runs.