"It seemed like the tap had broken" - Aakash Chopra on Haris Rauf leaking runs in Pakistan's World Cup 2023 loss to Australia

Aakash Chopra has criticized Haris Rauf for his indifferent performances in the ongoing World Cup and especially for his extremely expensive spell in Pakistan's clash against Australia.

Rauf picked up three wickets but conceded 83 runs in eight overs as the Aussies set the Men in Green a 368-run target in Bengaluru on Friday, October 20. Babar Azam and Co. were then bundled out for 305 to lose the game by 62 runs to drop to fifth spot in the points table.

Reflecting on Pakistan's bowling performance in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra pointed out that Rauf was taken to the cleaners. He said (3:40):

"Pakistan made a comeback in the end because of Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Haris Rauf also picked up wickets in the end, although Haris Rauf was leaking runs. It seemed like the tap had broken."

The former India opener pointed out that the right-arm pacer has not looked as threatening as he was perceived to be heading into the tournament. He elaborated:

"The runs were flowing like water. Haris Rauf got hit a lot. He has already been hit a lot in this tournament. He came into this tournament with a lot of khauf (terror) but now Rauf is there but khauf (terror) isn't. The batters are running after him even though I rate him very highly."

Rauf was smashed for eight fours and five sixes in his eight overs. He conceded 59 runs in his first four overs before he picked up three wickets in his final spell.

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"You wanted your big players to stand up in this game and then they get counted" - Aakash Chopra lauds Shaheen Shah Afridi's spell

Shaheen Shah Afridi registered figures of 5/54 in 10 overs. [P/C: AP]

On the flip side, Aakash Chopra praised Shaheen Shah Afridi for bowling a penetrative and restrictive spell. He stated (4:10):

"Shaheen Shah Afridi picked up five wickets and conceded just 54 runs in his 10 overs in an encounter where 370 runs were scored. So I will say - very well done. You wanted your big players to stand up in this game and then they get counted."

While observing that Usama Mir bowled a decent spell, Chopra highlighted that dropped catches hurt Pakistan a lot. He said:

"I felt Usama Mir was bowling decently. He was bowling alright. They needed to hold on to an odd catch, even Babar Azam dropped one, although he did get Steve Smith out. You somehow restricted them to 367 when it seemed like the total would be 400-plus."

Mir returned with figures of 1/82 in nine overs, with Steve Smith being his only victim. Although he didn't err much in line or length with the ball, his dropped catch of David Warner potentially cost Pakistan the game.