Pakistani pacesetter Haris Rauf celebrates a wicket with the team.© AFP
Pakistani pacesetter Haris Rauf is counting on his knowledge gained in the Big Bash League to outsmart the Indian batters in the big clash of the T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23. The arch-rivals, who are not playing bilateral series due to geopolitical tensions, will clash at the MCG for the fourth time in a year.
“If I do my best they won’t be able to play against me easily. For the upcoming World Cup match I’m very happy because it’s at the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” Rauf, who plays for Melbourne Stars in the BBL, said in the post-match interaction following their six-run win over England.
“It’s my home base because I play for the Melbourne Stars and I have an idea of how the conditions are going there. I’ve already started planning how I would play against India,” he said.
Pakistan took a 3-2 lead here on Wednesday in the T20I seven-game series.
Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets – for the first time in a world tournament – in the latest edition of the T20I World Cup in the UAE. But recently, India took a clinical five-wicket win in the Asian Cup before losing to Pakistan in the ‘Super 4’ stage.
promoted
The 28-year-old fed the Indian batters with short-pitch deliveries when he returned wicketless in their first game of the Asian Cup. But in the Super 4 stage, he was responsible for Indian skipper Rohit Sharma’s main wicket. The 28-year-old finished the Asian Cup with eight wickets from six matches. But in the ongoing series he was at his best, taking eight wickets from five matches.
“The match between India and Pakistan is always a high pressure match. Last year at the World Cup I felt so much pressure. But the last two matches in the Asian Cup I didn’t feel much of it because I knew I just had to do my best Rauf added.
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