Lahore Qalandars owner Sameen Rana lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the mishandling of the pacer Haris Rauf. He said that he doesn’t know if the decision to remove the pacer from the contract was correct but the timing was not correct as psychologically it has affected him.
Haris Rauf has become the hot soup in the Pakistan Cricket. The fast bowler was removed from the national contract after he made himself unavailable for the recently concluded Test series against Australia, which Pakistan lost by the margin of 3-0.
PCB strictly stated that they won’t be giving NOC to Haris Rauf to participate in any overseas league until June 30, 2024. The governing body, however, wants the fast bowler to be available for all international commitments during the time he won’t be given NOC.
Haris Rauf on his part said that he wanted to take care of his body and prioritise white-ball cricket. But PCB didn’t consider it and said that they decided after taking views from all the stakeholders.
Lahore Qalandars owner Sameen Rana said that PCB’s decision has affected Haris Rauf psychologically. While hailing the fast bowler as their premier bowler said that the governing body humiliated the pacer publicly, saying that he would never treat his employee like this. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he explained:
“The timing of that announcement was wholly unnecessary. There was no Pakistan series coming up, or any emergency situation that necessitated the announcement two days before the PSL. Whatever the logic was, the timing was really bad. It was a huge blow psychologically for him, because his whole life’s main aim is playing for Pakistan.
“Rauf’s our premier bowler, our highest wicket-taker after Shaheen Afridi. To publicly humiliate him and issue a press release announcing the termination of his central contract, I have never seen this happen anywhere.I would never treat my employees like that.”
If someone treats you like that, you can’t pretend it doesn’t affect you – Sameen Rana on Haris Rauf
Sameen Rana further stated that Haris Rauf got hurt after the PCB’s treatment. He said that at Lahore Qalandars it was his additional responsibility to lift up the pacer. Talking about the same, he added:
“I don’t know what the PCB was thinking; I was on the receiving end. Haris was our premier fast bowler. If someone treats you like that, you can’t pretend it doesn’t affect you. Especially when it’s your country, something you’re emotional about anyway. And especially Haris, who is a naturally emotional person.
“It was an additional responsibility on me and the whole team to keep motivating him, and keeping him in the right frame of mind. He is a very strong boy, but again, a negative thought can creep into your brain. But unfortunately, after he seemed to be returning to form and performed brilliantly, he got injured. Of course, we can’t control that,” he concluded
In the ongoing PSL 2024, Haris Rauf has struggled to bowl consistently and has also been taken for a lot of runs. He would want to make a strong comeback in the remaining part of the season.
