Ramiz Raja, a former president of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has expressed his concern over the renowned pacers Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi’s slowing down of their bowling. Notably, the pair each took two wickets in the first One-Day International against New Zealand at Rawalpindi, but Raja believes they need to focus on generating more speed because it has historically been Pakistan‘s USP. Notably, each bowler let up 65 and 63 runs in their allotted 10 overs.
The veteran cricketer also said that Rauf is dangerous in T20I cricket because of his toe-crushing yorkers and change in pace, but Rauf needs to focus on his pace right away for One Day Internationals because otherwise he won’t be as effective in the 50-over game.
Ramiz Raja also appeared perplexed by the pacer, asking if he was intentionally bowling more slowly than normal or if his pace had actually slowed down. Additionally, he emphasized that, similar to T20I cricket, batters will always take chances against a bowler in ODI cricket in order to give him easy wickets. Raja therefore wants him to bowl in accordance with his strengths by comprehending the distinction between the two formats.
I can understand not pushing too hard for 2-3 overs if there is a 10-over spell: Ramiz Raja
“There is a cloud of uncertainty over Haris Rauf, and I believe this is due to the fact that he is not as efficient as a length bowler. In T20s, he either bowls effective Yorkers or has a good change of speed, and when batters take risks, he easily takes wickets. Because bowling in ODIs is different, I believe he needs to pick up the pace if he wants to be more effective.
“Overall, his pace has slowed down; I’m not sure if he’s bowling slower himself. However, I believe his pace needs to be raised a little bit more overall, Raja said on his YouTube channel. “Let’s say there is a 10-over spell, then I can understand not exerting too much pace in 2-3 overs,” Raja said.
Meanwhile, Ramiz Raja once again mentioned that the renowned pacer needs to improve his speed when speaking about Shaheen Shah Afridi. He thinks the 23-year-old needs to use variations, pace changes, and pure speed more effectively.
“Shaheen Afridi also has to pick up a few gears when he bowls forward and enhance his 136 mph average speed. This is due to the fact that such pitches need you to have a solid grasp of your bowling technique because you are aware that there won’t be a lot of sideways movement. In order to be effective, you must therefore build a process through variations, a shift in pace, or sheer speed, Raja said.
Notably, Pakistan won the first ODI of the series by five wickets over New Zealand.
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