PSL 2020: Haris Rauf reveals the reason for his ‘apology celebration’ after dismissing Shahid Afridi

Haris Rauf, the Lahore Qalandars’ fast bowler was taken for plenty during the Eliminator 1 against the Peshawar Zalmi. Though his team won the game, Hardus Viljoen took him to the cleaners, especially in the last over. However, the speedster made an incredible comeback in the Eliminator 2, picking up three wickets for 30 runs against Shan Masood’s Multan Sultans at the National Stadium in Karachi.

One of his three scalps was of former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi in the 14th over of the Sultans’ run-chase. Afridi perished for a golden duck and saw his stumps go for a walk. The dismissal also put Rauf on a hat-trick, though couldn’t accomplish the feat. In the meantime, his celebration after getting rid of Afridi caught the headlines. Interestingly, he apologised to Afridi with folded hands.

Haris Rauf opens up

He had a smile on his face when he was gesturing towards Afridi with folded hands. Thereafter, the commentators asked him the reason behind the celebration. Replying to the question, the 27-year-old mentioned. “He’s a senior player and I pre-planned the celebration if I managed to get him out.”

With Afridi’s wicket, Rauf also became the leading wicket-taker in T20s in 2020. The seamer has 50 wickets to his name as he surpassed Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan spinner, who currently has 48 wickets to show for his efforts.

Rauf was well aware of the fact that he went to the top after nipping out the prized wicket of Afridi. “Yes, I knew about it when I got the second wicket,” he signed off.

It was Rauf, who gave the Qalandars their first breakthrough in the fifth over when the Sultans were going all guns blazing. In the first 4.1 overs, the Sultans hammered 47 runs after which Rauf accounted for Zeeshan Ashraf’s wicket. Apart from one odd wide, he was on his mark, giving away only 30 runs.

On the back of his spell, the Qalandars won the game by 25 runs. Sohail Akhtar and Co also made the final of the T20 tournament where they will face the Karachi Kings, led by Imad Wasim, on Tuesday, November 17 in Karachi.