Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt made a blunt yet hilarious statement when he was asked why Haris Rauf is not as famous as fast bowling great Shoaib Akhtar, despite the pacer doing a great job with the ball for the Men in Green in recent years.
Notably, Rauf is one of the key pacers for Pakistan, and yet again proved his worth by helping the hosts beat England by three runs in the fourth T20I to level 2-2 in the ongoing seven-match T20I series at home.
Rauf was adjudged Player of the Match for his stunning figures of (3/32) against England.
Actually, Rauf dismissed dangerous Liam Dawson and Olly Stone in the 19th over when England needed just 5 runs off the last 10 balls to turn the match in Pakistan's favor, which they later won by 3 runs.
Rauf impressed one and all with his heroics with the ball, but Butt said that comparing Rauf to Akhtar is like comparing any Indian actor to Bollywood legends Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan.
Salman Butt said during a YouTube video: “It's just like comparing any Indian hero to Shah Rukh Khan or Amitabh Bachchan. You don't become a superstar overnight. Players like Shoaib Akhtar have changed the Test match in 2-3 overs. Haris hasn't even played Tests. You don't become famous just like that. In Akhtar's last match in his career, he had clocked 159.8kph.”
He continued, “Here, Haris is still young and I don't remember anyone, let alone him, bowl that quick. Haris is famous, he is also a star of Pakistan, but you can't become a Shoaib Akhtar or Wasim Akram in 2-3 games, especially when you play just one format (T20).”
The veteran batter also pointed out that Akhtar was a match-winner for Pakistan in all three formats of the game, but Rauf is yet to make his Test debut.
He signed off by saying, “You have to play Tests. You have to play five days, you have to clock 150kph in morning, afternoon, and evening sessions. This isn't like bowling 4 overs in T20s. You just can't compare on the basis of T20Is. You should last five days first, right now we are talking about resting after 4 T20s! So, there's a lot more to achieve.”
