Saeed Ajmal: “You played Haris as a wicketkeeper-batter. Azam is much better than him as he bats with intent”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Islamabad United assistant coach Saeed Ajmal said hard-hitting Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan is “much better” than rising star Mohammad Haris.
He noted that Azam, who is the son of former Pakistan captain Moin Khan, plays with a lot more intent than Haris, who is just 21 years old, but has already been earmarked as a promising prospect.
Haris was given the opportunity to play for the men in green in the 2022 T20 World Cup, where he showed off his range of big shots.
Haris smacked 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. He also scored eight runs in the final against England.
Azam, meanwhile, has only featured in three T20Is to date and scored six runs.
Even though Haris has shown plenty of potential, Ajmal still likes Azam more.
“You played Haris as a wicketkeeper-batter. Azam is much better than him as he bats with intent,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by NDTV.
It should be noted that Azam is playing for Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Haris is part of the Peshawar Zalmi.
In his side’s four-wicket win over the Karachi Kings, Azam hammered 44 runs off 28 balls, which included six boundaries and a six.
As for Haris, he scored 10 runs in the Zalmi’s two-run win over the Kings.
Islamabad United Squad for PSL 8:Â Alex Hales, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Colin Munro, Paul Stirling, Rumman Raees, Sohaib Maqsood, Hassan Nawaz, Zeeshan Zamir, Moeen Ali and Mubasir Khan, Tom Curran, Zafar Gohar, Gus Atkinson and Tymal Mills
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8:Â Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem, James Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail and Richard Gleeson