Pakistan Star Haris Rauf Breaks Silence On Off-Field Drama Around UAE Clash: “Headache…”
Pakistan cricket team pacer Haris Rauf made it clear that the players were not affected by the off-field drama surrounding the Asia Cup 2025 match against UAE on Wednesday.
The shadow of ‘boycott’ loomed large on the game as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) lodged multiple complaints to remove match referee Andy Pycroft over his role in the ‘handshake’ controversy against India.
However, the International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected the request on multiple occasions before Pycroft himself had a dialogue with the Pakistan team management. The start of the match was delayed by an hour but Pakistan ended up playing and winning the match by 41 runs to reach the Super Four stage.
For Rauf, the external events did not play any part in the team’s performance.
“I wasn’t feeling any pressure. This is not in my control. These are decisions for the board; it’s their headache,” Rauf said at the post-match press conference. “For me, I had to play the match, my focus was on that. The management have handled things pretty well.”
Although Pakistan cruised to victory, questions remained on their batting show as they lost 9 wickets with Fakhar Zaman being the only one with a 30-plus score for the side. Haris was asked about whether this Pakistan team will be able to emulate the Champions Trophy-winning squad of 2017 but the pacer was quick to respond that it is not his domain to speak about team selection or possible changes.
“It’s not my domain to speak on who plays and who doesn’t-that’s for the coaches and captain,” Rauf said when asked about parallels to that side. “As a player, if we get the opportunity, it’s on us to make the most of it. As for the batsmen, I’m sure they are discussing things among themselves. We have a few days before the next game, so hopefully we can prepare well.”
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