Matthew Hayden: “Our middle order players have had to step up, and young Haris has been one of those”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Australia opening batsman Matthew Hayden has lavished praise on Pakistan youngster Mohammad Haris, saying he has stepped up big time.
Haris is an exciting prospect as he is just 21 years old, but possesses a serious amount of firepower with the bat.
He got the chance to play for Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup and Hayden noted that he was immensely impressed with what he saw.
Haris hammered 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.
“Our middle order players have had to step up, and young Haris has been one of those,” Hayden was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Haris is currently representing the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where 108 runs in five matches at an average of 21.60 and a strike-rate of 180.
The Zalmi’s next match will be against the Karachi Kings on March 1. Â
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Haris, Aamir Jamal, Salman Irshad, Tom-Kohler Cadmore, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Rovman Powell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Danish Aziz, Arshad Iqbal, Saim Ayub, Usman Qadir, Suifyan Muqeem, Haseebullah, Jimmy Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail, Richard Gleeson (partial replacement for Rovman Powell), Peter Hatzoglou (partial replacement for Mujeeb ur Rahman), Shakib Al Hasan (available for playoffs), Azmatullah Omarzai