'Please bowl slow to me next time' - Shahid Afridi reacts to his dismissal by Haris Rauf in Eliminator 2

Lahore Qalandars (LHQ) were up against the Multan Sultans (MS) in the 2nd Eliminator of the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) on November 15 at National Stadium in Karachi. Qalandars clinched the match by 25 runs to book a berth in the final of the league for the first time against Karachi Kings.

Meanwhile, a sweet gesture by the young Qalandars pacer Haris Rauf won the hearts of many on social media and the cricket fraternity. Winning the toss, Multan Sultan skipper Shan Masood elected to bat first. Batting first, Lahore managed to post an above-par total of 182 on the board at the loss of six wickets in their 20 overs.

David Wiese and opening batsman Fakhar Zaman launched an assault on the opposition bowlers as they collected 48 runs off 21 deliveries and 46 off 36 respectively. Shahid Afridi was the pick of the bowlers for Sultans as he took two wickets of Mohammad Hafeez and Ben Duck.

In reply, the Multan franchise had an explosive start as they collected 47 runs in the first 4 overs. Rauf gave the first breakthrough to his team by picking the wicket of opener Zeeshan Ashraf. This was followed by a series of wickets as the middle-order of Sultans failed to impress.

Haris Rauf apologises to Shahid Afridi

Whatever hopes were left for MS were crushed by Rauf who took an important wicket of Rilee Rossouw. Then walked in the former Pakistan captain Afridi, however, he had to go back on the very first ball he faced. Haris bowled a stunning inswinging delivery that sneaked through Afridi’s legs before going on to disturb the timber.

As soon as the ball uprooted the stumps, Rauf apologised to the veteran by folding his hands. This was a great gesture to give the much-needed respect to the great of the game. Though Afridi hadn’t given any reaction to Rauf’s gesture on the field, he took to his Twitter handle on Monday to express his views about the same.

Afridi tweeted, “It was a great and unplayable yorker Haris very well bowled! Please bowl slow to me next time. Congratulations to Qalandars for final berth. Look forward to an exciting match tomorrow. Thank you Sultans fans for supporting us throughout the season,”