Legendary Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi has heaped praises on Haris Rauf after the speedster dismissed him for a duck in Pakistan Super League’s second eliminator between Lahore Qalandars and Multan Sultans on Sunday.
While playing for Sultans in the 2020 edition of the PSL, Afridi had a scatter-brained outing with the bat as the destructive batsman was removed by pacer Rauf with an unplayable yorker.
After cleaning up the attacking batsman, Rauf came up with an ‘apology celebration’ as a sign of respect for the former Pakistan skipper.
Now, Afridi has also reacted to Rauf’s bowling. The veteran cricketer made a humble request and urged Rauf to bowl him slow in his next contest. Afridi hailed the right-armer for his match-winning spell against the Sultans.
“It was a great and unplayable yorker Haris very well bowled! Please bowl slow to me next time Winking face with tongue congratulations to Qalandars for a final berth. Look forward to an exciting match tomorrow. Thank you, Sultans fans, for supporting us throughout the season,” Afridi wrote on Twitter.
“It was an act of showing respect, not apology:” Rauf on unique celebration
Earlier, Rauf had explained why he celebrated with folded hands after dismissing Afridi. The Rawalpindi-lad said that he did not apologise; instead, it was his way to show Afridi some respect, after all, he achieved so much for Pakistan.
“I didn’t really apologise to him. I just had to give him some respect, and that was my style of doing it. For all that he’s done for Pakistan, I have a lot of respect for him in my heart, and that was my way of expressing it,” said Rauf in a video uploaded by ESPNcricinfo on Twitter.
The 27-year-old paceman termed Afridi as a ‘superstar’ of Pakistan cricket.
“I’m usually much more aggressive after taking a wicket, but when I dismissed Shahid bhai yesterday, it was different. He’s a Pakistani superstar. He has performed exceptionally and won many games for Pakistan. So, it was important to show him some respect,” added Rauf.
