T20 World Cup: Here's how effective Haris Rauf has been in the death overs so far

Pakistan's right-arm pacer Haris Rauf has proved effective in keeping the Black Caps and Indians at bay during the death overs, if one were to look at data from his past two performances against the two teams. 

The 27-year-old fast bowler has bowled four overs (two each against India and New Zealand) in the last five overs (16-20) of the innings, and conceded only 23 runs. Of these, one was a bye and another was a leg-bye scored in his overs.

While bowlers are usually smashed for fours and sixes during death overs, Haris Rauf bowled 9 dot balls, conceded just one boundary and took four wickets in the two T20 World Cup matches.

The Rawalpindi-born fast bowler came into the limelight through the Lahore Qalandars’ Player Development Program in 2018 and made his PSL debut in 2019. 

He also had a stint with Big Bash League in Australia, where he was noticed for his fiery pace and ability to trouble batsmen on pitches that offered pace and bounce. 

The fast bowler made his international debut on January 24, 2020 against Bangladesh in Lahore and since then, has been exceptional during the death overs. 

His death-over economy rate has been 7.8 and he has taken 23 wickets while bowling between the 16 to 20-over slot. He has also taken the most wickets during the death overs by any bowler in this period.

Overall, he has taken 33 wickets in 25 T20Is since his debut on January 24, 2020. Only Tabraiz Shamsi has taken more wickets than him since then - the South African has taken 38 scalps since Jan 24, 2020.

The other notable fast bowler after Haris is Mustafiz ur Rehman of Bangladesh, who has taken 30 wickets since Haris Rauf made his debut.

It is worth mentioning that while Haris Rauf is frequently criticised by fans, his numbers actually tell another tale altogether. 

Experts say Haris’ performance in death overs will play a crucial role for Pakistan in the on-going T20 World Cup to restrict opponents from putting big totals on the board.

For all of Geo.tv's latest news, updates and analysis of the T20 World Cup 2021, visit: https://www.geo.tv/t20-worldcup-2021/