• Haris Rauf is pleased for his Lahore Qalandars colleague.
• Zaman Khan will make his T20I debut today against Afghanistan.
• Haris congratulated Zaman for joining the national squad.

Haris Rauf, Pakistan’s fast bowler, is pleased for his Lahore Qalandars colleague Zaman Khan, a graduate of Pakistan’s Player Development Program (PDP), who will make his T20I debut today against Afghanistan.

Haris congratulated Zaman for joining the national squad in a video message posted on social media by Qalandars.

“I am happy to see another PDP player going to represent Pakistan,” said Haris who was also the find of Qalandars through their talent hunt drive.

“Qalandars’ PDP is proving to be worthy for Pakistan cricket. Zaman is a talented cricketer and he has potential to perform at the international level,” he added.

Mirza Tahir Baig, who gained to prominence during Pakistan Super League (PSL) 8 while opening the batting for Qalandars alongside Fakhar Zaman, wished Zaman and Abdullah Shafique the best of success.

“Zaman and Abdullah are the assets of Pakistan. I wish them best of luck and pray for their good performance,” he concluded.

Today in Sharjah, Zaman will make his T20I debut alongside Saim Ayub, Ihsanullah, and Tayyab Tahir. In the absence of usual captain Babar Azam, Shadab Khan will command the team.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has offered rest to key players such as Babar, Shaheen Afridi, Haris, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman.

Along with some fresh faces, veteran cricketers Imad Wasim, Azam Khan, and Faheem Ashraf returned to the national team.

PCB also declared their starting XI on Friday afternoon.

Here it is:

Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris, Abdullah Shafique, Tayyab Tahir, Shadab Khan (c), Azam Khan (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Zaman Khan and Ihsanullah