Shaheen Shah Afridi: “His impact in white-ball cricket is very high”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi said fellow pace bowler Haris Rauf has a “very high” impact in limited overs cricket.
Rauf is part of Pakistan’s go-to pace trio in ODIs and T20Is, along with Afridi and Naseem Shah.
The 30-year-old is one of the most dangerous bowlers in the world right now as he can hit speeds above 150 kph and unleash lethal bouncers, while also generating a good amount of swing.
Knowing that Rauf has all the tricks of the trade, Afridi isn’t surprised at the amount of success the Rawalpindi native has had in international cricket thus far.
“His impact in white-ball cricket is very high,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Afridi was recently involved in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, which they lost 3-0, and finished with eight wickets in two Tests at an average of 41.62.
Rauf was supposed to be part of Pakistan’s squad for the tour, but he pulled out due to workload concerns.
He instead represented the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League (BBL).
Both players are now featuring in Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand, with Afridi and Rauf taking three and two wickets respectively in the first T20I, which the men in green lost by 46 runs.
Afridi went wicketless in the second T20I, while Rauf finished with three wickets as Pakistan crashed to a 21-run defeat.
The third T20I will be held on January 17 in Dunedin.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan