Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf opens up fallout after horror outing in Asia Cup final: ‘For us, there is no forgiveness’

Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf opened up on the unforgiving nature of international cricket and how stars are expected to “perform like robots”. Rauf, who had a forgettable outing in the Asia Cup final in September where Pakistan lost to India for the third time in as many meetings in a month, added that players are human at the end of the day and can have bad days.

“Humaray lıye koi maafi nahi hoti (there is no forgiveness for us) we are expected to perform like robots but we are human beings and we can have bad days,” Rauf said after delivering a match-winning performance against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

Rauf had leaked 50 runs in 3.4 overs in the Asia Cup final against India in Dubai on 28 September as India chased down the 147-run target set by Salman Ali Agha’s men with five wickets and two balls to spare, despite getting reduced to 20/3 at one stage.

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Tilak Varma starred in India's triumph with an unbeaten 69, and was particularly harsh on Rauf – collecting two of his four sixes off his bowling including in the final over.

‘You don’t die from a bad day’

Rauf however, emphasized on not giving up after a bad day but to continue working on rectifying mistakes and maintain belief in oneself.

“The main thing is you don’t give up. You don’t die from a bad day. We just keep belief in our skills and keep on working on rectifying mistakes but as a professional cricketer any bowler can have a bad day,” the 32-year-old pacer added.

“No player likes to be criticised, yes everyone has his opinion but like I said for us, there is no forgiveness. You might have 10 good matches and one bad game and everyone will remember the bad game,” he added.

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Besides getting smashed all over the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the Asia Cup final, Rauf was also handed a two-match ban for offensive gestures made during the continental event, which caused him to miss the first two games of the three-ODI series against South Africa.

On Tuesday, in the first of three ODIs against Sri Lanka, Rauf returned figures of 4/61 as Pakistan restricted Sri Lanka to 293/9 after posting 299/5 on the board. Salman Agha was later adjudged the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 105 off 87 deliveries.