(Cricket News) After Haris Rauf chose not to play in the Test series against Australia, the PCB de-escalated the standoff with him by granting him a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) to play in the BBL. Zaman Khan and Usama Mir have also been granted NOCs to participate in the league, which starts on December 7.

The BBL schedule, which the board stated was decided upon with “the workload of players and the future tours programme of the national men’s team” in mind, allows the trio to play until December 28.

This probably alludes to the possibility of them playing in Pakistan’s T20I series with New Zealand following their tour of Australia, but those matches do not start until January 12. At most, Rauf and Mir will play five games for Melbourne Stars and Zaman four for Sydney Thunder.

The board stated, “The PCB understands that this decision is in the best interests of all the stakeholders involved while balancing the importance of game time with workload management.” England fast bowler Olly Stone, who plays county cricket for Nottinghamshire in the UK under new Stars head coach Peter Moores, has been training with the team and may eventually be called up to the squad as Rauf’s replacement.

After being publicly criticized by PCB officials for his decision to not play in the Australia Tests, there were concerns that Rauf’s time with the Stars would be delayed. However, it has now been revealed that the board has sent Rauf a show cause notice to explain his decision to withdraw from selection for the Tests.

The show cause notice is based on the alleged breach of clauses from the central contract which require the cricketer to make themselves “available as and when required by the Board” and to “render professional cricketing services… diligently, faithfully and with utmost integrity.” Chief selector Wahab Riaz publicly criticized Rauf’s decision to not be available for the series at the end of last month. Wahab claimed Rauf had initially committed to the Test series only to pull out a day later, a version of events Rauf is thought to dispute.

It was surprising in the first place that Haris Rauf was being considered for the Australia series, considering that he has primarily been viewed and developed as a white-ball specialist since his rise to prominence through a Lahore Qalandars talent hunt in 2017. However, according to ESPNcricinfo, Rauf was approached regarding the possibility of playing in the Australia Test series during the World Cup in India.

Pakistan’s management at the time saw him as a player who could have the most impact in shorter bursts of time, particularly at a venue like Perth, where Pakistan will play their first Test. Rauf was reportedly skeptical even at the prospect but had not ruled it out.

Though Wood has been managed by England as a red-ball option for some time, having now played 31 Tests and over 70 first-class games, Pakistan’s new captain Shan Masood confirmed that they wanted to use Rauf’s extreme pace across short spells, just as England had done in the Ashes a few seasons ago.

Rauf bowled 13 overs in the first innings of the Test in Rawalpindi and sustained a quad injury that kept him out of the remaining series. He has only ever played nine first-class matches and one Test for Pakistan against England last winter, when Pakistan was also short of options. Rauf was not included in Pakistan’s squad to travel to Sri Lanka for their final Test assignment, in July of this year.

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