Pakistan have been facing an early exit from the T20 World Cup after the side faced two successive defeats in their matches against India and Zimbabwe. While the Babar Azam-led side faced a dramatic four-wicket defeat to India, their match against Zimbabwe was also decided on the final ball with the side conceding a heartbreaking one-run loss. Despite restricting the Zimbabwean side to 130/8, Pakistan endured a middle-order collapse as they fell a run short in the chase.
Following the defeat, the Pakistan cricketers faced brutal criticism from fans and former cricketers alike and during the pre-match conference ahead of the side's match against Netherlands, a reporter asked pacer Haris Rauf if Pakistan took Zimbabwe “lightly”.
“Haris, Zimbabwe bhi halki team hai, aur Netherlands bhi. Kadr se, ranking me. Zaahir hai, unko relax liya aur 130 bhi nahi ho saka. Netherlands ke khilaaf kis tarah se khelenge? Ruthless cricket khelenge? (Zimbabwe isn't a strong team, neither is Netherlands, in terms of ranking. Pakistan relaxed a little and we couldn't even score 130. How will you take on the game against Netherlands?),” the reporter asked.
Haris Rauf, however, had a rather straightforward remark to the same. The fast bowler insisted that no team is weak when it comes to ICC tournaments, and the players give their 100 percent regardless of the opposition.
{{/usCountry}}Haris Rauf, however, had a rather straightforward remark to the same. The fast bowler insisted that no team is weak when it comes to ICC tournaments, and the players give their 100 percent regardless of the opposition.
{{/usCountry}}“Dekhein aapne baat ki, Zimbabwe halki team hai. Koi bhi tournament khelne aaye, vo halka nahi hota. Koi bhi international game khel rahe hain, vo bhi ussi mindset se aaye hain ki hamein World Cup jeetna hai. Ham kisi ko halka nahi keh sakte, ya ye nahi keh sakte ki vo achhi team hai ya nahi hai. (See, you said that Zimbabwe isn't a strong team. It's not like that. We are playing an internaitonal match, and everyone has come with a mindset to win the World Cup. We can't take anyone lightly, we can't say that this team is good or this team isn't),” Haris stated.
“Netherlands ya Zimbabwe se match ho, ya kisi se bhi ho, ham apna 100 percent dene ki koshish karte hain. Unfortunately, results hamaare favour me nahi the. Zimbabwe jeeti, vo achha khele. Agle match jiske saath bhi hain, ham apna best denge. (Whether it's Netherlands or Zimbabwe or anyone, we have to give our 100 percent. Unfortunately, the result wasn't in our favour against Zimbabwe, they played well. But we will give our best in upcoming matches),” the Pakistan fast bowler further said.