Tanvir Ahmed: “If Haris was going to play like this, then why was Mohammad Rizwan deliberately left out of the team?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed has questioned why wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan was “deliberately left out” of the T20I team.
Tanvir noted that Mohammad Haris, who replaced Rizwan, hasn’t been consistent enough with the bat, which has raised questions about why he keeps getting selected.
Rizwan, who is Pakistan’s ODI captain, used to be one of the go-to openers in T20Is but came under immense criticism for his low strike-rate.
However, Tanvir feels if Haris cannot have an impact on a regular basis, then Pakistan are better off with Rizwan in the team.
“If Haris was going to play like this, then why was Mohammad Rizwan deliberately left out of the team?” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter, as quoted by A Sports.
Rizwan has not been part of Pakistan’s squad for their T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the tour of Bangladesh, the T20I series against the West Indies, and the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan.
He did lead the men in green in their three-match ODI series against the West Indies and scored 69 runs, which included a top score of 53, at an average of 23.
As for Haris, he featured in the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, and made 33 runs at an average of 6.60 and a strike-rate of 84.61.
The 24-year-old is now playing in the 2025 Asia Cup, which is taking place in the UAE.
In six games, he has amassed 131 runs, which includes a top score of 66, at an average of 26.20 and a strike-rate of 136.45.
Pakistan triumphed over Oman and the UAE in the group stage, but also lost to India.
They were beaten by India again in the Super Four, but made it through to the final after securing wins over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Pakistan will face India in the Asia Cup final on September 28 in Dubai.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem