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Babar Azam reveals reason for ignoring Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Zaman Khan

Haris has played nine T20Is for Pakistan and has scored 126 runs at a strike-rate of 127.27. He has an average of 14 and highest score of 31 in the shortest format of the game

Babar Azam reveals reason for ignoring Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Zaman Khan PHOTO: PCB

Pakistan captain Babar Azam addressed the exclusion of Mohammad Haris and Aamer Jamal from the national squad for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and England.

During a press briefing before the team's journey to Ireland, Babar explained that Haris wasn't included due to the abundance of options in the top-order.

"I do agree Mohammad Haris didn't get proper opportunity the way he should have after the 2022 T20 World Cup. However, he did get opportunity in PSL but he didn't perform as per expectations. I am not saying he is a bad player. Everyone goes through a rough patch,” Babar said.

“Furthermore, he plays in the top-order and we already have a lot of players for top-order including me, Rizwan, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman,” he added.

Regarding Aamer Jamal, Babar emphasized the distinction between Test and T20 cricket, acknowledging Jamal's Test performance but suggesting that he needs more matches to refine his skills for the T20 format.

"Aamer Jamal performed in Test cricket and Test performance cannot be compared with T20s. He is a fine all-rounder. He need some more time and more matches under his belt which will get him further polished for T20 cricket," Babar said.

Pakistan squad for Ireland and England T20Is:

Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan