Pakistan opener, Imam ul Haq, feels that the Men in Green doesn’t have many matches left to experiment with their playing XI ahead of the 2023 World Cup. Hence, he has shunned the idea of including power-hitters like Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Haris in the lower-middle order.

During the post-match presentation in Karachi on Wednesday, Imam was asked if Pakistan need Iftikhar Ahmed and Mohammad Haris in the middle-order to bolster power-hitting in the remaining matches of New Zealand series.

“If I tell you honestly, I don’t think so, because we don’t have time to do experiments, and with Agha [Salman], Shadab [Khan] and [Mohammad] Nawaz, we have enough power-hitting in our ranks. We just need to give them confidence. Sometimes it is very different to come at number five or six and play only six or seven overs," Imam said.

“Agha did really well today. He made 32 and took a wicket or two as well. Nawaz and Shadab are also really good hitters and all-rounders, so I think we need to give these guys confidence. We could have given chance to Haris and Iftikhar if we had more matches. That is what I think. Babar might think differently. We have only two matches left, so we need to go into a big event after giving full confidence to our players," he added.

Imam and Babar Azam stitched ninth century partnership as Pakistan defeated New Zealand by 26 runs to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series to stay on course to top the ICC ODI Team Rankings for the first time.

With the series now in the bag, their first against New Zealand in 12 years, Pakistan will attempt to win the remaining two matches on Friday and Sunday so that they can vault from fifth to first on the ICC ODI Team Rankings. If this happens, this will be the first time Pakistan will achieve the number-one rankings, bettering their number-three ranking they had achieved in January 2007.