The Pakistani fast bowler Haris Rauf has revealed that he had his first interaction with the Indian allrounder Hardik Pandya on India’s tour of Australia in 2018. He was there in Australia at that time to play some local cricket as an emerging youngster and he got to know that the Indian team needed some net bowlers for their practice sessions.
Haris Rauf, who was speaking on the YouTube podcast named The Grade Cricketer, said when he heard that some net bowlers were required for India’s practice sessions, he thought it was a good chance for him to test his skills against some high-quality international batsmen.
So, he went bowling to the Indian batsmen in the nets. Incidentally, Hardik Pandya was also bowling in tandem with him during that net session and he had a keen eye on him. Rauf revealed that after having seen him bowl for a while, Hardik told him that he would soon be playing international cricket for Pakistan.
What Hardik told Haris Rauf indeed turned out to be true, as, within a couple of years of that interaction, Rauf was in the Pakistan squad, first for white ball cricket and then later he was drafted into the Test squad as well, despite having very little first-class experience.
Haris Rauf has come through the development program of Lahore Qalandars
Haris Rauf actually burst onto the scene through the development program of Lahore Qalandars. Since the Qalandars had a tie-up with the BBL team Melbourne Stars, Rauf got the opportunity to play for Stars in the BBL before playing international cricket and it was from BBL that his potential was identified.
A couple of good PSL seasons then ensured that he managed to catch the eye of the Pakistan selectors and got a national call-up for Pakistan. Haris Rauf, at this stage, is an established member of the Pakistan bowling attack in 50-over and 20-over cricket.
