'The main aim was to refine my skills in red-ball cricket' - Haris Rauf on his County stint

Pakistan right-arm seamer Haris Rauf has opined that the 'excellent standard' of County Cricket and his desire to 'refine' his red-ball skills were the major reasons behind him plying this trade in the First-Class competition in the ongoing English summer.

Rauf featured for Yorkshire in the first leg of the county championship, claiming 15 wickets in 4 games at an average of 31.55 apiece.

"The excellent standard of County Cricket in England is well known to all around the world, but for me, the main aim was to refine my skills in red-ball cricket," Haris was quoted as saying by PakPassion.net.

For Haris, the main objective of playing county cricket is to learn how to control the new ball and the adjustments required to succeed at the Test level. He is hopeful that the county stint will keep him in good stead as and when he turns up for Pakistan in whites.

"So, the idea has been to learn how to bowl with more control and get a good understanding of what I need to adjust in my technique to bowl well in English conditions. I am also hoping that the experience of playing four-day cricket here will prove to be useful for me to take into international cricket whenever the need arises," he added.

Rauf is a regular feature in the Pakistan white-ball teams but is yet to make his debut in Test match cricket. 

Just like every other budding cricketer, his ultimate dream is to represent his country in the longest format of the game.

"Every cricket player aspires to represent their country in what is considered the highest form of the game, which is Test cricket. There is no doubt in my mind that I am learning a lot by playing County cricket, as the experience, I get here will be crucial for my future aspirations to play Test cricket. 

The sort of things I have picked up so far and what is crucial for my development in red-ball cricket is centred around building up patience and assessing conditions and the opposition, which will help in taking wickets in different conditions," added Rauf.

Rauf has thus far represented Pakistan in 11 ODIs and 35 T20Is, in which he has claimed 19 and 42 wickets, respectively. As far as his First-Class career is concerned, he has claimed 31 wickets in 8 games at 27.64.

The Rawalpindi born, who is currently playing T20 Blast, will next be in action in the national outfit when the West Indies tour Pakistan for the ODI series in June.