• Home
  • Cricket Analysis
  • Analysing What Makes Mohammad Haris Special From Rizwan And Why He Fits For Pakistan

Analysing what makes Mohammad Haris Special From Rizwan and why he fits for Pakistan



Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Rizwan - (Source : AFP)Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Rizwan - (Source : AFP)

In the ongoing Asia Cup 2025 do-or-die match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Dubai International Stadium, the Men in Green, batting first, got off to a horrible start but managed to put 135 runs on the board, courtesy of Mohammad Haris. The star-keeper batter, who has been under a lot of pressure for replacing Mohammad Rizwan in the team, was his side's best batter.

Notably, the right-handed batter scored 31 (23), which featured two fours and a solitary six. Haris walked to the bat when Pakistan were reduced to 33/4 in 8.1 overs. From that situation, the 24-year-old managed the situation well. 

Despite Haris' brilliant performance, there is a constant cry to bring in Mohammad Rizwan, who brought more stability up the order. Although there is no debate that Rizwan has better stats than Haris in the shortest format of the game, this article will look at what makes Haris special from Rizwan and why Pakistan should continue to trust the youngster over Rizwan for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Before diving deep, let's look at Haris' and Rizwan's stats after 33 T20I innings.

Mohammad Haris vs Mohammad Rizwan T20I Stats After 33 Innings

Criteria
               Mohammad Haris
Mohammad Rizwan
Innings
33
33
Runs
5461140
Strike-Rate
136.50
130
Average
18.2
52

Looking at the stats, then Rizwan is superior to Haris is every department, but still there are a few areas where Haris has an edge over Rizwan and that makes him special.

Key Reasons What Makes Mohammad Haris Special From Mohammad Rizwan

1.Aggressive Intent

One of the main goals of Pakistan head coach Mike Hessen is to build a team full of aggressive intent. If we talk about intent, then Rizwan too batted with a strike-rate of 130 in the initial phase of his career, but lost that same touch as he went on his career. Lets look at dip in Rizwan's strike-rate over the years.

Year
               Strike-Rate
2020128
2021
134
2022
122
2023
139
2024117

In 2024, Rizwan played 21 T20Is, but struggled to hit the ball out of the park and mostly played run-a-ball knocks. Thus, Pakistan were forced to look after more options and Mohammad Haris turned out to be most suitable as he strikes the ball at 130. 

2. More Flexible Than Rizwan

If we look at the stats and career trajectories of both the players, then Haris is more flexible than Rizwan, as the latter used to mostly bat in the top order. Meanwhile, Haris, who floats according to the match situation in T20Is, allows Pakistan to stick to their plan to let Sahibzada Farhan and Fakhar Zaman open the innings alongside Saim Ayub batting in the top-orderas well.

Lets look at how the two batters have played in different positions. 

Mohammad Rizwan

Criteria
               Top-Order
Middle-Order
Innings
81
12
Runs
3259
155
Strike-Rate
126.6
95.6
Average
43.47
16.6

If we look at Rizwan's stats, then he has heavily struggled to bat in the middle-order and his form has dipped at the top, which forced Pakistan to make changes keeping the 2026 T20 World Cup in mind.

Mohammad Haris

Criteria
               Top-Order
Middle-Order
Innings
21
12
Runs
417
138
Strike-Rate
127.3
113.5
Average
16.4512. 25

If we look at the stats of the two players, then Haris is more flexible and has maintained that consistency across the batting order.