Haris Rauf was singled out by the Indian batters in the Asia Cup final as the Men in Blue defeated Pakistan for the third time in three Sundays. Haris Rauf ended up conceding 50 runs in 3.4 overs in the final against India, at an economy rate of 13.63, while being unable to take any wickets. After the final, Pakistan cricket legend Wasim Akram slammed the pacer, saying he was a “run machine… but with the ball.”
“Haris Rauf is unfortunately a run machine… as a bowler. And especially against India. I mean, I’m not criticising him. The whole country’s criticising him. And he doesn’t play red ball cricket. He’s not going to improve, he’s not going to play well if he doesn’t do that. So you don’t want a player in your team who refuses to play red ball cricket. PCB has to say to Haris Rauf: ‘If you are not playing red ball cricket, thank you very much!’
“At least play four or five first-class games. You want to improve your lengths. And his run up! Haris Rauf’s not got the smoothest of run ups. I was talking to Waqar (Younis), and I said, ‘how come he hasn’t fixed his run up in the last four or five years since I’ve been seeing him play?’ Waqar also said it’s because he doesn’t play red ball cricket,” Akram said in the post-match analysis show after the Asia Cup final.
IND vs PAK Final Live Cricket Streaming: Tilak Varma guided India home as they were chasing a target of 147 against Pakistan in the final of the 2025 Asia Cup. (AP Photo)
Haris Rauf has made falling airplane gestures in games against India a couple of times now, in reference to the six Indian fighter jets that Pakistan claimed to have shot down during Operation Sindoor. But with the ball, he has been punished by Indian batters.
In the final, Rauf was first introduced into the attack in the 8th over where he managed to give away a tidy seven runs. He was then handed the ball only in the 15th over, but at a point when India were hanging on by a thread in the game: at that stage, the Men in Blue were 83/4, needing 64 runs from 36 balls at a required run rate of 10.66 while their run rate at the time was 5.92. Saim Ayub had leaked just four runs in the previous over. But India managed to break the shackles in Rauf’s over by scoring 15 runs.
Akram lavished praise on the Indian team.
“Congratulations to India, the worthy champions, 7 out of 7 games they’ve won here. Winning this in style!”
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Akram also slammed Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha for his captaincy errors.
“It wasn’t an easy wicket to bowl on. But a lot of mistakes were made by a Pakistani captain with their bowling changes. He’s an off-spinner himself. That’s why he’s playing in the team: as an off-spinner. He hasn’t bowled an over. Maybe just the one over in this tournament.”
The postWasim Akram slams Haris Rauf: ‘He’s a run machine… as a bowler, especially against India’ | Cricket News appeared first on Indian Express
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