Haris Rauf Losing His Steam

Haris Rauf is known for his pace in the middle overs. Bowling the overs pacers usually hate to bowl, Haris Rauf has a habit of hurrying and annoying batters when they are preparing themselves to negotiate the slower bowlers. What has happened to him in the World Cup though?

Against Gurbaz, Haris Rauf digs it short only to be dispatched to the fence. He keeps going short early in his innings and gets taken for early runs. His first spells have been a massive concern throughout. Against Australia, his first ball was a short wide loosener. Result, David Warner smashed him out of the Chinnaswamy.

The Haris Rauf issue though is turning out to be greater than him. Pakistan is coming in without a specialist spinner. They have Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan but neither are proving to be the kind who could provide you ten overs consistently. They are neither consistent with control nor breakthroughs. Usama Mir is still in his early days as well leaving them very light on spin.

With the pace attack, Pakistan lost Naseem Shah early on. The loss is proving to be a difference with Naseem Shah’s ability to consistently hit unplayable lengths missing. Shaheen Shah Afridi is not finding his rhythm as well. He has looked threatening for sure. Being the only threatening bowler though is allowing batters to be a little more respectable with him as they know the other bowlers are there to target.

As a result, opponents are getting off to good starts and are not losing wickets, leaving Haris Rauf with no basement to work with. The lack of a basement and consistent looseners has affected Haris Rauf’s form and is hurting Pakistan badly.

Without Naseem, Haris is bowling more in the powerplay to cover for the experience and skill lost. With Shaheen not finding swing though Pakistan continues to fall into further trouble. Haris Rauf, not known for his swing bowling is going at an economy rate of eleven after six overs in the powerplay.

With no movement, the margin of error bowling with a hard new ball in the subcontinent can be very minimal. His bad starts up front are carrying on and impacting him at his best phase, the middle overs. Up until the World Cup he was among the top wicket-takers between overs 11-40. Now, that strength is abandoning him as he stands with two wickets across the phase in the tournament.

His pace is turning out to be an advantage on the slower pitches for the batters. At Chepauk, Afghanistan found it easy to negotiate him leaving Pakistan with no plan B. He is finding his way though. Two wickets against South Africa at the back end show that he is still capable of delivering in the middle and end. The pitch used though for the fixture is quicker than the ones used for the other games at Chepauk. Regardless, he did find ways to get through and almost got Pakistan back into the contest.

With two wickets in a heartening manner, Haris Rauf does have something to look at. Time will tell if he gets his confidence back and finds his rhythm and pace consistently with Pakistan staring at an early exit.