Pacer Haris Rauf has shown his full support towards young Pakistan top-order batters by urging everyone to give them ample room to progress and not judge them based on just one or two matches. Notably, the visitors tried shuffling their batting order to explore the right combination going forward.
Stars like Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam were left out of the squad for the T20I series against New Zealand. As a result, Hasan Nawaz and Mohammad Haris were included by the Green Shirts as top-order batters. While Irfan Khan was slotted at number four. Despite the changes, the move backfired drastically as the whole batting unit failed to get going in the first two matches of the ongoing series. After suffering their second defeat, Rauf shed light on the performance of the young batters and the team on the whole.
"You talk about criticism, I think it has become common in
Pakistan. These are young players. You go to any place, any team in the world, they give the youngsters full freedom. If they give the youngsters a chance, they make sure to give them 10 to 15 matches at a stretch. That is how they become players," Rauf was quoted as saying by ESPN Cricinfo after ending up on the losing side in Dunedin.
"Everyone who comes into international cricket struggles initially. You talk about criticism, it's become a norm. Everyone just sits and waits for the Pakistan team to lose so that they can talk about it. They have their opinions, but we are trying to build our team. We are trying to draft the youngsters in, the seniors are also there. As seniors, we motivate our juniors and advise them about what's required to succeed in international cricket. The quicker they learn, the better it will be for them," the 31-year-old further added.
'When we try things, there will be failures' - Rauf on Pakistan's dismal run
Meanwhile, speaking of the match, the express pacer Haris Rauf had a decent outing as he claimed two wickets while spending 20 runs in his three-over quota. While Shaheen Afridi who did bowl a maiden, proved expensive as New Zealand smacked him all over the park. During his bowling spell, he ended up leaking 31 runs. Another bowler, Mohammad Ali too got thrashed as he gave away 34 runs in just two overs. Notably, due to rains, the second T20I was curtailed to a 15-over-a-side fixture.
Reflecting on the bowling of Pakistan bowlers, Haris Rauf admitted that even though the team's performance has been downhill in recent times, the Green Shirts are going through a transition phase and will only grow from here to challenge the big sides in the near future.
"There is no doubt that our cricket has declined. But we are building as a team and trying to forge a combination and play cricket that's required at the top level. We are trying different things, and when we try things, there will be failures, but we will learn. And there will come a day in future when you will get to see good cricket from the Pakistan team," Rauf concluded.
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