No other cricketer in the world, according to Haris Rauf, could have hit him for those two sixes during India’s exciting victory over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup encounter in October. Rauf stated he would have felt “hurt” if Hardik Pandya or Dinesh Karthik had hit him in such manner. He was speaking for the first time about the two hits to a Pakistani publication. India defeated Pakistan by four wickets thanks to Kohli’s unbeaten 83 off 52 balls, widely regarded as one of the finest T20 performances.
With 28 needed off the final eight balls, Kohli lofted Rauf with a back-foot punch for the ages before flicking him behind square to essentially end the match before the final over. “That was his class and the kind of shots that he plays, and the two sixes that he hit, I don’t think any other player could hit those kind of shots. Had Dinesh Karthik or Hardik Pandya hit me like that, I would have been hurt but that was Kohli, and that’s different class,” Rauf said.
Rauf still has trouble understanding the first six hits to the ground a month later. “I had no idea that he (Kohli) can hit me down the ground off that length. So when he hit that shot off me, that’s his class. My plan and execution was fine but that shot was all class.” The last over was supposed to be a cushion of at least 20 runs for left-arm spinner Mohammed Nawaz, but Kohli’s brilliance derailed Rauf’s preparations.
“Look, India required 31 off the last 12 balls. I had given away only three runs off four deliveries. I knew Nawaz was bowling the last over, he is a spinner and I had tried to leave at least four big boundaries for him and leave at least more than 20 runs,” said Rauf. “And since 28 were required off last eight balls, I bowled three slower one and he was deceived. I had only bowled one quick ball out of four. So the idea was to bowl a slower one on that back-of-a-length zone since the dimensions of square boundary was bigger.”
Having bowled to Kohli at the India nets throughout the 2018–19 series, when the last Test was played at the SCG, Rauf claimed to have an excellent working relationship with Kohli. “I was playing Grade 1 club cricket in Sydney and I had bowled to the Indian team. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravi Shastri, they have always met me with lot of warmth. Ravi Shastri, in fact, during World Cup told me that he was so happy to see my success and transition. “Kohli has also been very appreciative. He told me that you bowled at our nets and now it is good to see you do well at international level.”