The pacer made his return earlier this week in the second T20I against England at Edgbaston, where he demonstrated what Pakistan had been missing. He took two crucial wickets, dismissing England’s top-scorers, Jos Buttler and Will Jacks, while conceding 34 runs in his four overs, making a strong comeback after conceding 17 runs in his opening over.
It wasn’t quite enough as Pakistan made only 160 in response to England’s 183.
“When you lose a game it hurts, but as a team, we are confident,” Rauf said, talking about the match.
“We feel we can beat any opposition on any day. We’ve done it in the past, too. When you make mistakes you learn and try not to repeat those mistakes. We’re looking to play better in the next few games and make a comeback.
“The camp is relaxed. We’re enjoying ourselves. We’re trying to follow our game plans and execute them well. The results haven’t often been in our favour recently but if you stick to your plans they can sometimes follow.”
Rauf talked about the mental aspect of an injury layoff, something his colleague Naseem Shah had also mentioned earlier.
“It’s hard,” he said. “It’s a struggle during your rehab, and it’s difficult when you come back to maintain that pace and accuracy.
“But if you believe in yourself, it makes things easier. When I wasn’t in the team and rehabbing, I had a lot of time to think about my game and work on myself. Thankfully I’m back now, and the [T20] World Cup is coming up.”