Pakistani fast bowler Haris Rauf joined the 10 prominent players whose names will be called for the first time in next week’s auction, while a total of 14 Pakistani players made it to the final longlist.
It is worth mentioning that Haris Rauf was not part of Pakistan’s squad for the ICCT Twenty20 World Cup, where the national team was eliminated at the Super Eight stage, but he is the center of attention for his performance in The Hundred.
Apart from Haris Rauf, Pakistani players include Usman Tariq, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Muhammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Zaman Khan, Usama Mir, Imad Wasim, Akif Javed, Muhammad Amir, Salman Mirza and Sayem Ayyub.
It should be noted that Haris Rauf has previously represented Wales Fire in The Hundred and has taken 16 wickets in two seasons. He also featured in the last Big Bash League, where he took the most wickets.
On the other hand, Pakistan batsman Sahibzada Farhan, who is the highest run-scorer in the current T20 World Cup, has failed to make the long list here.
The England Cricket Board (ECB) and the franchises revealed in a joint statement that the players will be selected based on performance, availability and team needs.
It may be noted that the initial long list released by the ECB had 63 Pakistanis out of 710 registered players, but it has been reduced to 243 players, including 14 Pakistani cricketers.
The long list of women also includes two Pakistani actresses, but no Pakistani actress has appeared in the first five seasons of The Hundred.
The auction will be held on March 12 in London, and the women’s auction will be held a day earlier on March 11.
