When I said he should bat higher up a year ago people were having a laugh and a gaff. Here we are now.
He should open from time to time or come at 3 ala Afridi and Razzaq as that has worked really well for us in the past in the early 2000s esp when we were still a decent ODI side.
Thing is he can play proper shots, and if he gets set than he'll be deadly. If anything, he is more deadly at 5 or sometimes higher if chasing something big as he finds it more comforting to play a few balls before unleashing his inner Razzaq compared to coming at 7 or 8 and slogging from ball 1.
Right now there are only a handful of batsmen in the country being able to match the scoring rate of guys liek Hales, Finch, Warner, Rohit, Guptill, QdK, etc. Only the scoring rate though, ability wise they may be inferior.
And they are:
Sharjeel, Imad, Maqsood, Umar, Kami, Khurram, Latif, Ahsan, Rizwan (raw), and few others. Before people get their panties in a twist from some of these names, keep in mind I'm only talking about strike rate here, the ability to score according to modern requirements. So please don't feel like I'm dwarfing beloved Babar, Sarfraz or whoever.
We have a lack of options and have to use what we have. Out of the list Sharjeel and Umar is a must. Imad has secured his place too. I'd consider Maqsood again if he has a good season, and keep an eye on Ahsan. Belieb it or not, Khurram has done a lot to merit an ODI place despite what people think. Has been scoring consistently at high SR, yes he failed in Bangla, but who didn't?
Give him a flat track like the one where England delivered a rectal examination on our bowlers, and he'll pull off a Sharjeel like innings but more on the off-side.