Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf is plotting to bring down India at the T20 World Cup when the two teams meet next month at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), which he calls his “home ground”.
Rauf plays for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and so is well-acquainted with the MCG, where the neighbours will clash on October 23.
“If I give my best, they won’t be able to play me easily. For the upcoming (T20) World Cup match, I’m very happy because it is at the Melbourne Cricket Ground,” Rauf said.
“It is my home ground because I play for the Melbourne Stars, and I have an idea of how the conditions play out there. I’ve already started planning on how I would bowl against India,” he said.
Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets for the first time in a World Cup in the last edition of the T20I mega event in UAE. Recently in the Asia Cup, India secured a clinical five-wicket win before losing to Pakistan in the ‘Super 4’ stage.
“The match between India and Pakistan is always a high-pressure game. In the World Cup last year, I was feeling so much pressure.
“But in the last two matches, in the Asia Cup, I didn’tfeel much of it because I knewI just had to give my best,”Rauf said.
No ‘unfair’ advantage
London: England white ball captain Jos Buttler and his deputy Moeen Ali have said running out a non-striker for backing up too much is not “their thing” and that they would rather call the player back if any of their teammates used it as a mode of dismissal.
There has been no end to the debate in the aftermath of the third and final women’s ODI between India and England at Lord’s where Deepti Sharma ran out Charlie Dean to complete a clean sweep for the visitors.
“No, I am calling the batsman back,” the 32-year-old Buttler told TalkSPORT.
“No one wants to see them (mode of dismissal) in the game because they always create such a talking point when it should be about the battle between bat and ball.”
Moeen, the stand-in captain in their current T20I series in Pakistan, echoed similar sentiments: “No, it’s not my thing.” PTI
