Mohammad Haris said that Pakistan captain Babar Azam advised him to play fearlessly and not to be concerned about the opposition's pace attack during the all-important match against South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in T20 WorldCup.

When Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shan Masood couldn't do much damage with the bat, Pakistan was in trouble. Still, young Mohammad Haris, who replaced the injured Fakhar Zaman in the squad, blasted a few of lusty blows to put the pressure back on South African pacers.

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After Pakistan's opening pair struggled with the bat, Haris targeted the South African fast bowlers by going over his stumps and either hoicking or pulling them through the fine-leg region. He also hit a maximum off Nortje over the fine-leg region before getting in front of the stumps. Haris scored 28 runs in 11 deliveries to give Pakistan an early lead in the first six overs.

Mohammad Haris spoke about his performance and also praised the skipper Babar Azam in a video posted by the PCB.

"I was playing well in the nets and took my confidence in the match and tried to do well for my team," Haris said.

"Rizwan bhai got out early, so I tried to utilize the powerplay and do well for my side. My captain told me to play without fear and not think much about the bowlers. He told me to play my natural game and focus ball to ball, and I succeeded while following it," he maintained.

Pakistan will now play its final group game against Bangladesh on November 6 at Adelaide. It will be a must-win game for Pakistan as they will also have to rely on other group results to go their way.