Pakistan’s selection process has created a fresh confusion as one of their young guns can’t find a reason why he was dropped from the recent T20I series against New Zealand.
Pakistan announced their T20I squad for the five-match series against New Zealand and Haris found no place in it. The 22-year-old has been a prolific player in domestic cricket but hasn’t been able to reflect the same when playing for his country.
Mohammad Haris has done modestly in the 9 T20I matches that he has played. The batter has scored 126 runs at an average of 14, but has a decent strike rate of 127 in those matches.
Pakistan’s chief selector Wahab Riaz explained that Haris was given a rest to give other players a chance. He also confirmed that the player is in their plans. But Haris has expressed his shock after the omission.
“Even I don’t know when and where I performed badly [in T20Is]. There are ups and downs. Sometimes, players in the back-up [roles] perform better than you, so they deserve a chance,” Haris was quoted as saying by a Pakistani outlet Cricket Pakistan.
“It is healthy competition and I hope to perform well in PSL and grab the opportunity,” he added.
The Pakistan team didn’t have a decent outing in New Zealand as they were humbled 4-1 by New Zealand in the T20I series. The likes of Saim Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan and others failed to make a mark with the bat as well.