I don’t think any other player can hit a shot like that off my bowling: Haris Rauf on Virat Kohli's momentous six in the T20 World Cup

Now that the T20 World Cup is over and the storm has settled, it is time for the memories to take over. India started their T20 World Cup campaign with a thrilling win where they pipped their arch-rivals in a last-ball barnstormer with Virat Kohli leading the charge.

In that incredible knock played by Virat Kohli, there were two iconic strikes in the 19th over against Haris Rauf that set the former apart from the ordinary where the first one was struck straight over the bowler’s head while the second was a flick down the leg-side that sailed over the ropes.

The man at the receiving end of these two massive blows, Haris Rauf opened up on his exact feelings after being taken apart by the King on the grandest of stages. Talking to a news outlet called Cricwick, Haris Rauf said, “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.”

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

Haris Rauf also explained the strategy behind the last two deliveries where he was almost sure that he had things under control. Rauf said, “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.”

He continued, “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 were fine but that shot was all class”, concluded the Pakistani speedster.