'Scary' rapid Rauf brings fear factor to BBL

If Big Bash batters had not already been put on notice by the stunning introduction of Pakistani pace sensation Haris Rauf, they were after his MCG hat-trick.

Melbourne Stars captain Glenn Maxwell is confident in Rauf continuing on his meteoric rise following a stunning spell against the Sydney Thunder in Wednesday night's KFC BBL victory that kept the Stars top of the table.

Plucked from Tasmanian club cricket where he was playing with the Glenorchy Magpies as part of a Lahore Qalanders development program, Rauf cleaned up Matthew Gilkes, Callum Ferguson and Daniel Sams for a final-over hat-trick on Wednesday night.

It was the sixth hat-trick in the BBL's nine-season history, and it came only hours after the fifth when Adelaide's Rashid Khan took one against the Sydney Sixers.

Rauf, 26, has had just three first-class games and was only given a last-minute call-up to the Stars roster when legendary pace man Dale Steyn, and Rauf's idol, arrived injured for his brief BBL stint.

But with Steyn having returned to South Africa for international duties and the Stars original replacement Pat Brown succumbing to a back injury that put him out for the season, Rauf is set to be a regular fixture in the playing XI for the remainder of the summer.

Maxwell said Rauf was more than capitalising on being unfamiliar to Australian batsmen, like fellow internationals Rashid and Sandeep Lamichhane before him.

"There's a few teams we haven't played so there's still an opportunity to have that fear factor in the back of their mind before they play against us," Maxwell said.

"If he keeps taking wickets like that, they have every right to be fearful.

"For him to get a hat-trick on a pretty good wicket was outstanding.

"Haris brings something different – an electric youth, that unknown and you're not really sure what's going to happen."

Rauf, who was clocked on the MCG speed gun sending down deliveries at more than 150 km/h, has taken the equal second-most wickets in the BBL with 13 despite having featured in just four games.

In comparison, Sams has taken 15 wickets but taken part in all of the Thunder's eight games.

The ladder-leading Stars are back in action on Saturday night when they again play struggling rivals the Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium.

Melbourne Renegades squad: Dan Christian (c), Cameron Boyce, Tom Cooper, Richard Gleeson, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Shaun Marsh, Joe Mennie, Samit Patel, Luke Robins, Will Sutherland, Beau Webster, Jack Wildermuth.

Melbourne Stars squad: Glenn Maxwell (c), Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ben Dunk, Sam Elliott, Seb Gotch, Clint Hinchliffe, Sandeep Lamichhane, Nick Larkin, Lance Morris, Haris Rauf, Marcus Stoinis, Daniel Worrall.