‘Kohli told me I will play for Pakan in six months’ Haris Rauf shares first meeting with Kohli

Pakan’s pacer Haris Rauf bowled to Virat Kohli at the nets in Sydney during India’s tour of Australia in 2019. Rauf, then a PSL bowler, was playing for a club in Australia. Impressed with his skills, Kohli, Rauf says, told him that “you will be playing for Pakan in six months”.
“And I played for Pakan in 8-9 months,” Rauf shared this nugget in the Geo News show Hasna Mana Hai.
In the show, he was asked to name a batsman whose wicket he would prize. “I cherish all my wickets, but if I have to pick one, then it has to be Virat Kohli”.
Rauf also shared how he loves eggs and used to eat 24 eggs a day.Watch:
“I eat 24 eggs a day. Aquib Javed (former Pakan bowler and a coach now) had given me the diet plan: 8 eggs for breakfast, 8 for lunch and 8 for dinner. When I had gone to the cricket academy for the first time, the room had crates of egg piled up. I felt as if I had come to some poultry farm,” Rauf said. “I was 72 kgs then and Aquibbhai told me I need to be around 82-83 kgs, ideal for my height. I am now 82 kgs.”
That nets session against Indians is something Rauf cherishes as an landmark in his cricketing journey. He had in the past talked about how former India coach Ravi Shastri also used to refer to it.

“Aksar unse (Ravi Shastri) mulakat hoti hai, wo kehte hai ‘yaar ek net bowler jaise tum hamare paas aye they…aur jis tarah tum world me bowling kar rahey ho tumhara ek naam hai. Jab hum tumko dekhte hai to hume kafi khushi milti hai’. To unhe sara pata hai jaise Virat bhai bhi kafi appreciate karte hai ki ek time tum net bowler bhi they.”
(Whenever I meet Shastri, he always reminds me how I was a net bowler once and now you have made a name and earned fame. So, he knows where I came from and he is happy to see me),” said Haris.