Babar Azam Responsible For My Improvement: Haris Rauf

image-ley00l4wHaris Rauf in action for Pakistan [Source: Twitter]

A product of the Lahore Qalandars franchise, Haris Rauf burst out onto the T20 scene with success and made his way into the Pakistan national white-ball side. Rauf, relatively inexperienced in bowling with the hard ball, made his name in tape-ball cricket prior to converting into a professional player.

Rauf, who is currently playing in the Pakistan Super League for defending champions Qalandars, praised Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for his growth and improved performance over the last two years.

The 29-year-old has claimed 56 T20I wickets in 46 appearances for Pakistan in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Speaking to Dawn, Rauf lauded Babar's role in taking Pakistan's white-ball cricket to greater heights. 

Pakistan reached the final of the Asia Cup T20 2022 and the ICC T20 World Cup 2022. 

Here's what Rauf said

"I strongly believe that the improvement in my performance is all because of Babar Azam. We played really good and exciting cricket in the last two years.

"In this period, we emerged as a good unit, especially in white-ball cricket, and the credit goes to our skipper Babar Azam, who trusted the abilities of players, which ultimately gave us confidence." 

Overall, Rauf has from 57 T20Is picked up 72 wickets since 2020.

Rauf's Qalandars will take on the Azam-led Peshawar Zalmi today at Rawalpindi.