Haris Rauf finally opens up about the two sixes hit by Virat Kohli in 20-20 World Cup 2022

On October 23, the World saw a perfect India-Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the Super 12 round of the 20-20 World Cup 2022, the Men In Blue snatched the win from the jaws of defeat. The protagonist for the winners was Virat Kohli who changed the game in the last few overs. At the start of the 19th over, they needed 32 runs to win.

In the first four balls, they could only score as many runs and needed 28 off the last eight balls. However, Kohli hit two sixes to bring down the equation to 16 needed off six balls. A month after that, Haris Rauf, who bowled that over, opened up on those shots. He said if players such as Dinesh Karthik or Hardik hit those sixes, he would have been hurt but Kohli is a different class.

“The way he [Kohli] played in the World Cup, that is his class, we all know the types of shots he plays. And the way he hit those sixes, I don’t think any other player can hit a shot like that off my bowling,” Rauf told Pakistan news outlet Cricwick.

“If Dinesh Karthik aur Hardik Pandya would’ve hit those sixes, I would’ve been hurting but those came off Kohli’s bat and he is a different class altogether,” he further said.

I had no idea Virat Kohli would hit me down the ground: Haris Rauf

The right-arm pacer further explained his strategy during that over. He said that he was bowling slower ones keeping longer square boundaries in mind. Rauf further explained that he decided to bowl a pacy delivery on the fifth ball of the over. He also revealed that he wouldn’t have thought Kohli would hit him over long-on.

“Look, India required 31 off the last 12 balls. I had given away only three runs off four deliveries. I knew Nawaz was bowling the last over, he is a spinner and I had tried to leave at least four big boundaries for him and leave at least more than 20 runs,” said Rauf.

“And since 28 were required off eight balls, I had bowled three slower balls and he was deceived. I had only bowled one quick ball out of four. So the idea was to bowl a slower one on that back-of-a-length zone since the boundary was larger on the square side.

“I had no idea that he can hit me down the ground off that length. So when he hit that shot off me, that’s his class. My plan and execution was fine but that shot was all class.”