Salman Butt: “You can’t become a Shoaib Akhtar or Wasim Akram in 2-3 games, especially when you play just one format (T20I)”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt said pace bowler Haris Rauf won’t be the next Shoaib Akhtar or Wasim Akram if he continues to mainly play one format.
Rauf has primarily featured in T20Is for the men in green, but is starting to feature more regularly in ODIs. He also made his Test debut against England in December last year.
Given the pace he possesses, which can top 150 kph, many people feel that the 29-year-old is the new Akhtar or Wasim, both of whom bowled with serious pace.
However, Salman noted that it will take a lot of time for Rauf to even reach the pedestal of the two legendary seamers and added it is impossible for him to get there in just two or three games.
“You can’t become a Shoaib Akhtar or Wasim Akram in 2-3 games, especially when you play just one format (T20I),” he said during a live session on YouTube as quoted by NDTV.
Rauf is now in action for the Lahore Qalandars in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In the opening game against the Multan Sultans, which the Qalandars won by one run, he finished with figures of 1-37 off his four overs.
The Qalandars’ next game will be against the Karachi Kings on February 19.
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 8: Fakhar Zaman, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, David Wiese, Hussain Talat, Haris Rauf, Abdullah Shafique, Liam Dawson, Sikander Raza, Ahmad Daniyal, Dilbar Hussain, Harry Brook, Kamran Ghulam, Mirza Tahir Baig, Shawaiz Irfan, Zaman Khan, Jalat Khan and Jordan Cox, Ahsan Bhatti, Sam Billings, Shane Dadswell and Kusal Mendis