Haris Rauf has been one of the most threatening bowlers in international cricket since he made his debut. He has delivered some remarkable performances in ODI cricket becoming the most important bowler for Pakistan along with Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Let’s take a look at the top 3 spells in ODI cricket bowled by Haris Rauf:
5/18 vs Afghanistan, 2023
Haris Rauf’s best bowling figures came against Afghanistan at Hambantota. In the first ODI of the series between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Haris Rauf decimated the Afghan batting lineup with his lethal deliveries.
Batting first, Pakistan was restricted to a low total of 201 by the clever Afghan bowling unit. It needed a tremendous effort from the Pakistan bowling attack to defend this low target. Haris Rauf stood up for his side and took the responsibility of giving breakthroughs. Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah took wickets in the initial overs and Rauf carried the momentum. His first wicket was the wicketkeeper-batter Ikram Alikhil. Later in the innings, he dismissed Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan among others to bring Afghanistan to their knees. Eventually, Pakistan won this match by a whopping 142-run margin.
4/19 vs Bangladesh, 2023
This was another impressive bowling spell from Haris Rauf, this time in the Asia Cup against Bangladesh. Lahore’s pitch is considered to be batting-friendly but Haris Rauf’s intimidating spell did not let Bangladesh batters operate with freedom.
As a first-change bowler, he dismissed opener Mohammad Naim. Towhid Hridoy was also dismissed very quickly by Rauf putting Bangladesh in a spot of bother. In the latter phase, he sent Mushfiqur Rahim and Taskin Ahmed back to restrict Bangladesh to a miserable total of 193.
4/65 vs England, 2021
Haris Rauf bowled this expensive but impactful spell against England in Edgbaston though Pakistan could not prevent England from chasing a challenging target. Pakistan put up 331 runs on the board in the first innings giving a tricky target to England but the English batting order proved their mettle by chasing this target with two overs to spare. Haris Rauf dismissed some crucial names including Phil Salt, Zak Crawley, James Vince, and Lewis Gregory. James Vince had completed his century and Lewis Gregory was batting at the score of 77.
Also read: Mohammed Siraj’s 3 best performances against Sri Lanka in ODIs