Former Pakistani spinner and head coach Saqlain Mushtaq reacted to Haris Rauf breaking his record against Bangladesh in the first Super Four match of the ongoing Asia Cup 2023 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday.
Haris, 29, bamboozled Bangladesh's batting line-up and bowled an exceptional spell of 19/4 in six overs.
While doing so, he also reached a feat and became the joint third-fastest Pakistani bowler — along with legendary Waqar Younis — to 50 ODI wickets in 27 matches.
He is behind Shaheen Shah Afridi and Hasan Ali who took 50 ODI wickets in 25 and 24 matches respectively.
Mushtaq took to his X — formerly known as Twitter — account and reacted to Rauf's accomplishment saying that records are meant to be broken.
"No doubt, records are meant to be broken. It gives me more satisfaction to see a fellow countryman topping the chart for the country. It takes a great amount of effort, hard work, focus, and dedication to achieve these feats. Well done, boys," Saqlain wrote on his X account.
Wednesday belonged to the Pakistani pacers. Not only did they keep Bangladesh under 200 as the visitors were all-out for 194 runs but also created records.
Pakistani pace sensation Naseem Shah, as well, created a unique record after causing all kinds of trouble for the away side.
Naseem, 20, gave Pakistan a dream start and sent Mehidy Hasan Miraz — who scored an important hundred in the match against Afghanistan — back to the pavilion on his first ball of the innings.
The 20-year-old became the first Pakistani bowler to take a wicket in each of his first 13 ODIs.
He also became the bowler with most wickets (32) in his first 13 ODIs for the Green Shirts. He is followed by Abdul Qadir who took 27.
Earlier today, Bangladesh won the toss and decided to bat.
Both teams made one change in their lineup for today's crucial match. Pakistan replaced Mohammad Nawaz with Faheem Ashraf, meanwhile, Litton Das came in place of the injured Najmul Hossain Shanto for Bangladesh.
Pakistan and India qualified from Group A, meanwhile, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka booked place in the Asia Cup Super 4 from Group B.
Lineups:
Pakistan: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Litton Das, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud
- Haris Rauf
