Mike Hesson: “I am certain that Haider Ali will play more for Pakistan in the coming years”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Islamabad United head coach Mike Hesson is confident that power-hitter Haider Ali “will play more for Pakistan in the coming years”.
Haider was once thought to be the next big thing in Pakistan cricket and was a regular face in the national team.
However, underwhelming performances led to him being dropped from the side and he has not played international cricket since October 2023.
The 24-year-old has been looking to earn a recall by excelling in domestic cricket and did exactly that at the Champions T20 Cup, where he finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer with 294 runs in eight matches for the Panthers, which included three fifties, at an average of 49 and a strike-rate of 161.53.
Most recently, he played for the Chittagong Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and amassed 210 runs in 12 games at an average of 30 and a strike-rate of 185.84.
Given Haider’s form over the past few months, Hesson is optimistic that he will be back in the Pakistan team in the near future.
“I am certain that Haider Ali will play more for Pakistan in the coming years,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Haider was not picked for Pakistan’s ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa.
He also didn’t get selected for the 2025 Champions Trophy, which will be held from February 19 to March 9.
Pakistan Squad for 2025 Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
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