BBL 10: Rauf to miss Melbourne derby after Pakistan Test call-up
Jan 16, 2021
Melbourne [Australia], January 16 : Melbourne Stars pacer Haris Rauf will miss the Melbourne Derby clash against Renegades after being selected in the Pakistan Test squad for the first time.
Stars will be without pace sensation Rauf as he will return home. After Friday's win against Strikers, Stars have risen to fourth on the ladder with two vital games against their local rivals to come in their next two outings.
Apart from Rauf, there are no other changes to the squad that was named to take on Strikers.
On Friday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 20-member squad, including nine uncapped players, for the two-Test series against South Africa, which commences on January 26.
Openers Abdullah Shafique and Imran Butt, middle-order batsmen Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel, spinners Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan, and fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Tabish Khan have been rewarded for their stellar performances in the 2020-21 domestic season, including the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Hasan Ali has returned to the Test side after two years following a highly successful Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in which he was adjudged player of the final and tournament. Also returning to the side is left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz, who took 22 wickets with two-fers and scored 744 runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He last played a Test against the West Indies in Sharjah in 2016.
The 20-player squad: Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (captain), Fawad Alam, Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Yasir Shah, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tabish Khan.
