Maxwell declares 'no limit' for pace ace Rauf

Melbourne Stars skipper Glenn Maxwell has declared Haris Rauf “the story of the BBL” as the Pakistan pace sensation prepares to make his return in Friday’s qualifying final.

Rauf has lit up the KFC Big Bash season, claiming a hat-trick against Sydney Thunder at the MCG earlier this month and sending down several fiery spells, propelling him on to the international stage after he was playing club cricket less than two months ago.

The 26-year-old has not represented the Stars since January 15 after he earned a call-up for Pakistan’s T20I series against Bangladesh on the back of his heroics in Australia.

Rauf, who took two wickets from as many games for Pakistan in his first series at the elite level, has returned to the Stars camp ahead of their clash against title rival Sydney Sixers, with the winner progressing to the decider on February 8.

Maxwell was lavish in his praise for his star paceman, tipping he will only become a more formidable bowler with experience.

“There’s no limit to what he can do. He’s an absolute superstar,” Maxwell told Melbourne radio station SEN.

“We probably didn’t get as much out of him as we could have. With a slight language barrier, you can sometimes miss a few things, but he still performed unbelievably well.

“He got a truckload of wickets in a short amount of time, and for a while there he was second on the wicket-taking list and had played half the games everyone else had played. That was just the impact he had on the tournament.

“He’s an absolute entertainment machine and people love coming to watch that.

“The story of him coming from club cricket into Pakistan eyes was absolutely outstanding, and was the story of the BBL tournament for mine.”

Rauf collected 5-27 against rival finalist Hobart Hurricanes in Moe last month, underlining his ability to dismantle opposition batting line-ups, while he also has a pair of three-wicket hauls against the Thunder.

His tournament figures make for impressive reading – 16 wickets from seven matches at 11.56 apiece. Rauf’s economy rate of 6.89 is also the best of the top 20 wicket-takers in BBL|09.

The speedster was plucked from Glenorchy Magpies in Tasmania's Premier League first grade T20 competition in December after South Africa great Dale Steyn’s debut for the Stars was delayed by a side strain.

While he has caused myriad headaches for opposition batsmen, he also landed plenty of early blows on his teammates in the practice nets in his bid to impress.

Rauf’s return is timely for the Stars, who have suffered defeats in their past three matches and lost Nepalese leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane for finals because of national duties.

Hilton Cartwright will also miss the remainder of the tournament with a broken hand.

“We are thrilled that Haris was given the opportunity to represent his country for the first time,” Stars coach David Hussey said. “It’s been a life-changing couple of months for him and he’s been a great recruit for us at the Stars.”

The Sixers’ pace stocks are also set to receive an injection of class, with Sean Abbott poised to return from a side strain.

Abbott has not taken the field since December 28, having taken 11 wickets in five games this season, and the Australia paceman’s return should at least partly offset the loss of England allrounder Tom Curran.

The Hurricanes and Sydney Thunder will open the BBL finals on Thursday when they clash in an elimination final.