Islamabad — Pacer Haris Rauf bagged two wickets in the first PAK v ZIM T20I and surpassed spinner Shadab Khan to become Pakistan’s leading wicket-taking in the shorter format.
The right-arm pacer reached the milestone when he dismissed Zimbabwe batter Ryan Burl and then castled Blessing Muzarabani to finish with 2-17 in the first PAK v ZIM game.
His two wickets took his T20I tally to 109 in 76 matches, surpassing Shadab Khan who has taken 107 wickets in 104 games.
Star fast bowler Shaheen Afridi sits at the third spot, with 97 scalps in 73 games, while former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi is the fourth on the list, having dismissed 97 batters in 73 games for Pakistan.
Former Pakistan pacer Umar Gul is fifth on the list as he took 85 wickets in 62 games, while Saeed Ajmal is sixth on the leading wicket-takers list with 85 wickets in 64 matches for Pakistan.
Pertinent to note here that Haris Rauf drew level with Shadab Khan as the joint-leading wicket-taker of Pakistan in the T20I series against Australia last month.
The pacer secured a four-wicket haul, taking his T20I wickets tally equal to that of Shadab Khan.
While Shadab Khan has failed to make it to the national squad in the recent tours, Haris Rauf has become an active member of white-ball squads.
The right-arm pacer was part of the T20I and ODI squads for the recent Australia series, while he also participated in the PAK v ZIM white-ball series.
Earlier, Pakistan bowled out Zimbabwe on 108 to defeat the host by 57 runs in the first game of the three-match T20I series at the Queens Sports Club.
Chasing a target of 166, the hosts were bowled out for 108 runs in 15.3 overs.
Pakistan and Zimbabwe will face off in the second game on December 3 and the final PAK v ZIM game is scheduled for December 5. — (ARY News)
