Pakistan should absolutely not pick Haris. No no no no no.
TLDR take - DonÂ’t ruin this lads career by picking him early. Please.
Detailed view:
Pakistan cricket has its share of failings, but perhaps itÂ’s because biggest and least acknowledged one is itÂ’s poor development of itÂ’s young players.
We have historically picked young players and hoped for the best. ItÂ’s worked sometimes (Wasim, Inzi, Amir, Babar etc) but the hit rate of young players immediately succeeding is low.
Either players perform when young, or they fizzle out after initial success and have to go back to domestic anyway, with their reputations tarnished.
Youngsters need to spend time in domestic, refining their game and being comfortable in their own skins.
You just need to see how spectacularly weÂ’ve sabotaged Haider AliÂ’s career by not allowing him the time to develop his innings management skills. Every time he has a showy domestic tournament heÂ’s back in PakistanÂ’s squad playing a variety of different roles (opener, aggressive middle order bat, slow middle order bat, finisher). How can that ever be helpful for the lads development. We did similar with Umar Akmal, and he never got the opportunity to graft and work on his weaknesses.
For Haris specifically, I like the lads aggressive approach and work ethic ALOT. I remember seeing him a couple of times in the 2020 National T20 and Pakistan Cup, where I was deeply unimpressed with his lack of power and frequent brain fades. Since then he has worked on his power (albeit thereÂ’s room for further improvement there) and is a little more controlled in his aggressiveness. And all this has happened because heÂ’s worked hard on his game since 2020.
He still has weaknesses, ie his ramp technique against quick short bowling, and his general positioning when sweeping against spin. The ability to play quick short bowling is especially true for Aussie wickets in the world t20.
These weaknesses can further be addressed if he goes away and heÂ’s plays the Pakistan Cup and the 2022 National t20 in September.
Because, make no mistake. If he gets picked, he will warm the bench for the reigning t20 player of the year in Rizwan and stall his development.
Given that Rizwan is likely to play all the Australian T20s anyway, IÂ’d much rather Haris player domestic in the meantime.
Sarfraz can deputise in the meantime, and if Haris keeps performing till the National t20 in September, then you consider him for the world t20.
Until then, let him develop. This lad is a jewel and I pray inshAllah that we develop him correctly and donÂ’t waste him.
