Daily Times

Haris Rauf on Wednesday became the first Pakistani to take a hat-trick in Australia’s Big Bash League (BBL). Playing for Melbourne Stars, Haris bagged the three-wicket haul against Sydney Thunder, taking the wickets of Matthew Gilkes, Callum Ferguson and Daniel Sams. The Pakistani paceman has regularly been bowling deliveries above 145kph and caused a lot of problems for the Thunder batsmen. With 13 wickets to his name at an average of just 7.23 in the league, Haris stands second on the list of highest wicket takers in the BBL so far. While the bowler shines in the BBL, a number of social media users raised questions over Pakistan Cricket Board’s failure to pick Haris in the international squad. Hailing from Rawalpindi, Haris worked part-time in a shop as a salesman before his talent was discovered by Lahore Qalanders in 2017. He would earn just 250 rupees a day and some more bucks from playing tape-ball cricket for various clubs. Interestingly, before being discovered by Lahore Qalanders, Rauf had never played with a hardball and all his cricketing experience had been with a tennis ball.