The new season of Australia's T20 tournament Big Bash League is underway and the uncapped Pakistani fast bowler Haris Rauf is turning out to be quite a revelation with his 10 wickets from three matches, so far. However, the 26-year-old, whose action reminds Mark Waugh of Jasprit Bumrah, has been drawing a lot of flak for his "slit-throat" celebration after taking wickets. Brought in to the Melbourne Stars' squad as a late fill-in for Dale Steyn, Haris Rauf celebrated his wickets against the Sydney Thunder with a gesture that is being labelled as "inappropriate" by social media users.
Watch the celebration here
After dismissing Daniel Sams, the bowler celebrated with a gesture of slitting his throat.
Former Australian rugby league player Darryl Brohman was among those who condemned the celebration. "Not sure we need the throat cutting gesture from Harris Rauf everytime he takes a wicket. Clearly a very good bowler but the post wicket antics are over the top," he tweeted.
While a fan from Pakistan tweeted, "Throat-slashing celebration should have no place in a cricket ground."
The celebration did not go well with most fans on Twitter and here are some strong reactions.
As far as the match is concerned, Haris Rauf put together a compelling case for re-selection by grabbing the scalps of Callum Ferguson, Alex Ross and Daniel Sams.
Rauf finished with 3/24 with another stump-smashing game in the ongoing tournament.
The three-wicket win on Thursday helped Melbourne Stars to go top of the BBL table.