The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi has come in support of their pacer, Haris Rauf, who has been in the news after his altercation with a fan outside a hotel in the USA, where the bowler while being with his wife, was verbally abused by the fan.
The Pakistan team was already under the scanner for their poor and struggling performance in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, from where they were eliminated after the group stage, on the back of their two successive defeats against the United States of America and India.
Haris Rauf has picked up seven wickets in the four games of the tournament, and that too with an economy of 6.73, as he made life difficult for the opponent batters, on those surfaces, where batting was already quite difficult.
‘Strongly condemn the appalling incident involving Haris Rauf’- Mohsin Naqvi
The incident took place outside the hotel in the United States, where Haris Rauf was seen strolling with his wife. A fan, suddenly taunted the pacer for their early exit of the competition. Rauf got into a brawl with the fan.
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The video footage, which went viral on social media, found the sprinter rushing towards the support when his wife tried to stop him, as the guards and a few along him looked to stop him from being physical with the fan.
The lion’s share of the Pakistan team has flown back home already after their end of the campaign in the T20 World Cup. However, Pakistan captain Babar Azam, Shadab Khan, and Imad Wasim are among those who have decided to extend their stay in the US to spend quality time with their friends and family.
The likes of Mohammad Amir have flown to England to be part of the T20 blast competition for the Derbyshire team.
Meanwhile, after the incident, Haris Rauf used his social media ‘X’ account to describe the whole incident and remarked that his behavior was on the back of the distasteful words about his family from the fan, at which point he lost his cool.
‘As public figures, we are open to receiving all kinds of feedback from the public. They are entitled to support or criticize us.’ The Rawalpindi-born pacer Haris Rauf wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter after the video went viral. ‘Nevertheless, when it comes to my parent and my family, I will not hesitate to respond accordingly. It is important to show respect towards people and their families, irrespective of their professions.’
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi has reacted on social accounts about the incident. He has asked the fan to apologize to the bowler for his actions, otherwise, the board would be taking legal action against him.
‘Strongly condemn the appalling incident involving Haris Rauf. Such actions against our players are completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.’ The PCB chief expressed in a statement. ‘Those who are involved must immediately apologize to Haris Rauf, failing which we will pursue legal action against the individual responsible.’
The Pakistan side had a very struggling T20 World Cup campaign, where they failed to qualify for the ‘super eight’ stage after defeating the USA, where they failed to hold their nerve in the ‘super-over’, while against arch-rival India, the 2009 champions couldn’t chase 120, from a comfortable position and fell short by six runs.