"Such shots are quite rare, he can't hit them again"- Haris Rauf's take on Virat's consecutive sixes in T20 WC
The Men in Blue suffered a 10-wicket loss in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup at the hands of England, which ended India's dream of lifting the ICC trophy. Throughout the tournament, India had a fantastic run. Rohit Sharma and his team topped the group stage.
They won four out of five games in the Super 12 stage of the tournament, starting with an incredible win over archrival Pakistan in their very first game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. That game was regarded as one of the best T20I games in history.
It came down to the very last ball of the game, with India clinching a thrilling victory. Chasing the target of 160, India lost their four wickets for just 31 runs, and then came arguably the best inning from the bat of Virat Kohli, which sent India home.
He remained unbeaten on 82 off 53 balls and helped India register the win, which looked impossible at one time. The turning point of the chase came when India needed 28 off 8 balls, and Virat smashed two consecutive sixes off Haris Rauf, who came out to bowl the 19th over.
The first six, which went over the long-off boundary, became the talk of the town and drew appreciation from former cricketers, experts, analysts, and fans. Notably, Haris was asked about those two sixes in a recent interview on "Hasna Mana Hai," and the pacer said that those shots were rare and even Virat would not be able to repeat those shots.
Haris Rauf about Virat Kohli #INDvSL #ViratKohli #Kohli #SuryakumarYadav #Rizwan #Malik #BabarAzam𓃵 #AhmadShahzad pic.twitter.com/KMchDHJjU2
— For no reason (@Ayaztanveer141) January 7, 2023
Haris said, "Of course, it hurt when that went for a six. I didn't say anything but it hurt me personally. I thought something wrong had happened. Anyone who knows cricket knows what sort of a player he is. He has played that shot now; I don't think he can do that again. Such shots are quite rare, you can't hit them again and again. His timing was perfect, and it went for a six."
Virat was rested from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, but he will be back for the ODI series starting on January 10. Rohit Sharma and other seniors will also be back in the squad.