NEW DELHI: As pacer Haris Rauf pulled out of Pakistan’s upcoming tour of Australia, citing workload issues, chief selector Wahab Riaz issued a stern warning to players to put national duties above everything else.
Newly appointed chief selector Riaz, on Monday, named an 18-member squad for the three-Test series in Australia that included three uncapped players.
With Rauf declaring his unavailability for the tour, Riaz set the record straight, telling players to prioritise national duties and any non-compliance will lead to them getting sidelined.
\u201cTwo days back he (Haris) told us that he was available for the Test series and last night he said he had worries over his workload and fitness issues so he was not available,\u201d said Riaz.
The former fast bowler said he along with Muhammad Hafeez, the newly-appointed Director of Pakistan team, had a detailed chat with Rauf.
\u201cI and Hafeez spoke to him (Rauf) in detail and told him that both the captain and coach wanted him to play in Australia, as he was an impact bowler.
\u201cWe assured him that he would not bowl more then 10-12 overs in a day in Australia,\u201d Riaz explained.
\u201cWe also spoke to the team physio and trainer and they said Rauf had no fitness issues and there would be no problem with him in Australia. As a centrally contracted player we felt he should have not taken a step back.\u201d
Riaz said in the absence of a few injured topline players, Rauf would have been handy Down Under.
\u201cWe felt that with Naseem (Shah), Muhammad Hasnain and Ehsanullah unavailable due to injuries, Rauf, if he wanted to play for Pakistan, should have made a sacrifice and played for the team,\u201d said Riaz.
Riaz made it clear that players who are willing to stand up for the country will be given preference in future when it comes to team selection.
\u201cAny player, no matter who he is or how big a player he is, if he is not giving priority to the Pakistan team then he will not feature in our future plans,\u201d he added.
The former left-arm quick said he wanted to prepare a pool of good standby players and not have to depend on just 15-16 players as happened before the World Cup.
He said more young players would be given exposure in T20 cricket so that there would be more players to choose from for next year’s T20 World Cup.
Riaz said Naseem Shah would be ready to start bowling again at 50 to 60 percent after three to four weeks.
\u201cHe is still in rehab recovering from his shoulder surgery.\u201d
Pakistan squad for Australia series<\/span>: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
(With inputs from PTI)<\/span><\/div>\n