Haris Rauf has been ruled out of the reserve day in the Asia Cup Super 4 match at R Premadasa Stadium due to discomfort in his right flank here on Monday.
Pakistan’s bowling coach Morne Morkel said Rauf had pulled an oblique muscle, and had started to feel uncomfortable when he bowled his second over on Sunday.
“Haris started feeling his oblique muscle last night. He had a scan and it revealed some inflammation. With the World Cup round the corner, it is precautionary and we’ll have to use the other boys to fill the overs. About yesterday’s bowling, I felt that we weren’t on the money from the get go, and that’s why we were hit for a few runs,” he said.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board has not revealed the nature of Rauf’s injury. “He was subsequently taken for a precautionary MRI, which revealed no tear. He is under the observation of the team’s medical panel,” it stated.
Rauf’s absence has affected Pakistan bowling lineup as they are left with the option of three pacers – Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Faheem Ashraf, with Shadab Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Agha Salman chipping in as spenners.
Rauf went wicketless last night after bowling five overs where Indian openers gave a rollicking start, putting on 121 for the first wicket. However, Pakistan came back strongly by dismissing them quickly after they smashed half-centuries.
