Shoaib Malik: “He isn’t a natural power-hitter, so asking him to finish games doesn’t play to his strengths. He needs to face the new ball, make use of field restrictions, and bat with freedom. That’s when he can add value”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Veteran Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik believes Mohammad Haris “isn’t a natural power-hitter” and shouldn’t be assigned the finisher role.
Instead, Malik suggested promoting Haris to the number three position so he can “face the new ball, make use of field restrictions, and bat with freedom”.
He added that the 24-year-old has made plenty of runs when given the chance to bat one down.
“He isn’t a natural power-hitter, so asking him to finish games doesn’t play to his strengths. He needs to face the new ball, make use of field restrictions, and bat with freedom. That’s when he can add value,” Malik was quoted as saying by A Sports.
“If you look at his recent performances, he scored runs when he played at number three.”
Haris was recently involved in Pakistan’s T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, where he amassed 33 runs in five matches at an average of 6.60 and a strike-rate of 84.61.
The Peshawar native fared a lot better in the 2025 Asia Cup, finishing with 131 runs in seven games, which included a top score of 66, at an average of 21.83 and a strike-rate of 133.67.
Pakistan managed to make it to the Asia Cup final, but weren’t able to get their hands on the trophy as they lost to India by five wickets.
Their next assignment will be a home series against South Africa, featuring two Tests, three T20Is, and three ODIs.
The series is scheduled to be played from October 12 to November 8.
Pakistan squad for South Africa Test series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi