Pakistan’s Haris Rauf has taken the Big Bash League by storm, with Mark Waugh saying earlier this week that there is a similarity between Rauf and India’s Jasprit Bumrah, but his celebrations after taking wickets have angered some fans.
https://twitter.com/SoheilKhanzada/status/1212632027331223552
Each time Rauf took a wicket for the Melbourne Stars in their three-wicket win over Sydney Thunder on Thursday, Rauf gestured by motioning to slit his throat, accompanied by an aggressive gesture towards the batsman.
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Australian former rugby league footballer Darryl Brohman was among those who condemned the celebration. “Not sure we need the throat cutting gesture from Harris Rauf everytime he takes a wicket. Clearly a very good bowler but the post wicket antics are over the top,” he tweeted.
Rauf’s figures of 3-24 set his team on road to victory in the BBL match on Thursday.
“Throat-slashing celebration should have no place in a cricket ground,” tweeted a fan from Pakistan. Others also suggested that Rauf come up with an alternative celebration more acceptable for a cricket match.
In the 2015 World Cup, West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels had escaped an official sanction for making a similar gesture during a match against Zimbabwe. Samuels had been let off after an informal talking to from the match referee.
Rauf has taken 10 wickets in his first three matches in the BBL, making this the most explosive start for any bowler in the league. Six of his 10 wickets have come through bowled dismissals.
His performances in Australia have forced him into reckoning to be part of the Pakistan team for the T20 World Cup this year, with several fans calling him Pakistan’s answer to Jasprit Bumrah because of his ability to bowl yorkers at pace. Rauf, 26, was discovered through the Pakistan Super League, and he has since then become a highly valued T20 mercenary in various franchise leagues.
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