Wasim Akram: “He has pace but he has to improve his length for one-day cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Iconic Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram has ordered 150 kph speedster Haris Rauf to improve his length when bowling in ODIs, saying he cannot just rely on pace.
His comments come after Rauf leaked plenty of runs in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup despite taking quite a few wickets.
The 30-year-old took 16 wickets in nine matches at an average of 33.31, but also conceded 533 runs – the highest-ever in a single edition of the World Cup.
Aware of this, Wasim urged the Rawalpindi native to start working on bowling a better length.
“He has pace but he has to improve his length for one-day cricket,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan started their World Cup campaign with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering four straight defeats at the hands of India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite fighting back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, the men in green failed to make it to the semi-finals.
To add insult to injury, Pakistan were thumped by 93 runs in their last group stage game against England.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, but Rauf pulled out of the tour due to concerns about his workload.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will get underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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