Haris Rauf reveals Indian players supported him early in his career

• KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya boosted my confidence, says Haris Rauf.
• Pandya and KL Rahul had told me that I have the potential to bowl at the international level, says Haris.
• I had told them once that one day, I would bowl to them in an international game, says pacer.

Pakistan star fast bowler Haris Rauf has revealed that during the start of his cricket career, Indian batsman KL Rahul and all-rounder Hardik Pandya supported him for his international cricket journey. 

According to The Hindustan Times, the right-arm pacer said during an interview with paktv.tv that both Indian players met him during the Pakistan-India cricket match during the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai and all the three went down memory lane.

Rauf further said that during India’s tour to Australia in 2018-19, Rahul and Pandya not only boosted his confidence but also assured him that he'd be "an international player soon."

“When I was a net bowler for India, I had bowled to them in Sydney in the nets. So, I had told them once that I would one day bowl to them in an international game. And both Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul had told me that I have the potential to bowl at the international level,” he said.

The pacer said that both Indian players expressed happiness for him during the World Cup match, in which Pakistan defeated India by 10 wickets.

“They gave me a lot of confidence. Then, when I met them recently at the T20 World Cup, they remembered all our conversations. We had a discussion over it as well and they were really happy for me watching me play for Pakistan. When you play with good players you learn all the good things. I always try to learn good things from such players,” he added.

Rauf said that whatever the Indian players had predicted about his international cricket career turned out to be true during the Pakistan-India cricket match in ICC T20 World Cup 2021 as he dismissed Pandya during the game.

Pakistan made history by beating arch-rival India for the first time in a T20 World Cup match and claimed a 10-wicket victory.