Babar Azam: “The way Haris played, he’s a different player and shifted the momentum”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan captain Babar Azam sees a lot of potential in wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Haris, saying he is a “different player” who has the ability to shift the momentum of a match.
Haris, 21, rose to prominence in the 2022 T20 World Cup as he was given the opportunity to put his skills on display in front of the world.
Needless to say, the big-hitting youngster didn’t disappoint as he wowed everyone with his incredible array of innovative and brutally effective shots.
Haris smashed 28 runs off 11 deliveries against South Africa, 31 runs off 18 balls against Bangladesh, and 30 runs off 26 deliveries in the semi-final against New Zealand.
Even though he was limited to just eight runs in the final against England, which Pakistan lost by five wickets, he still made his presence felt and left quite an impression on Azam.
“The way Haris played, he’s a different player and shifted the momentum,” the Pakistan skipper was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Despite showing a lot of promise in the T20 World Cup, Haris was not selected throughout Pakistan’s home season.
The men in green were whitewashed 3-0 in their Test series against England before drawing 0-0 in their two-Test series against New Zealand. As for the three-match ODI series, the Black Caps claimed a 2-1 win.
The string of poor results has put immense pressure on Azam, with rumours starting to grow that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will look into splitting the captaincy so that the 28-year-old no longer leads the national team in all three formats.
As of right now, batsman Shan Masood is reportedly one of the early candidates to replace him as ODI captain.
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