Pakistan Chief Selector Wahab Riaz gave reason for picking Azam Khan over Mohammad Haris for upcoming for the upcoming five-match T20I series against hosts New Zealand.
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Wahab Riaz, in a press conference, said that Mohammad Haris was dropped from the series but the batter is part of Pakistan’s future plans.
“We have rested Mohammad Haris for this series,” he said. “We know his capability and he is part of our plans going forward. There were some domestic performers in First Class cricket who we wanted to give a chance and increase our pool of players, so we rested Haris from this tour.”
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The chief selector said the management had looked at Azam Khan’s game closely and a player’s match-winning skills (rather than his weight) should be given preference.
“We have watched Azam Khan very closely. At times, you have to prefer skills over fitness. If a player can win you a match, that’s more important than anything else. We’ve spoken to Azam Khan and given him a clear message – we want to invest in him, but he has to respond as well. You can’t expect anyone to lose ’10 kg in 10 days, but there is a way to improve fitness,” Wahab Riaz said.
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He added, “We’ve seen he’s a high-impact player in PSL, domestic cricket, other leagues – we’ve tried many players at number so now we want to give Azam a chance.”
Related – Former cricketer Aqib Javed suggests ‘Azam Khan should quit cricket’
