Mohammad Haris replaces Fakhar Zaman in Pakistan squad

Zaman, who scored 20 off 16 in his sole outing against the Netherlands, has been ruled out of the tournament after aggravating a pre-existing knee injury

Mohammad Haris has replaced Fakhar Zaman in Pakistan's 2022 T20 World Cup squad.

Zaman injured his knee during Pakistan's Asia Cup campaign but opted to take the risk of playing in Australia.

He featured for Pakistan against the Netherlands, scoring 20 runs off 16 balls, but has now been ruled out of the tournament after aggravating his injury.

Zaman was initally named among Pakistan's reserves but was brought into the squad after Usman Qadir failed to recover from a hairline fracture in his right thumb.

"We know that Fakhar had a knee injury in Asia Cup about seven weeks ago, he has been incredibly brave, resilient and has worked really hard to come back into the team," Dr Najeeb Soomro, Pakistan's team doctor and chief medical officer, said.  

^{Fakhar Zaman aggravated a knee injury against the Netherlands [Paul Kane/Getty Images]}

"He had an extensive rehabilitation and after which he made his way back into the team.

"Obviously with any knee injury, it takes time for it to have 100 percent recovery. Fakhar and the team understood the risks coming into the tournament and we got him into the tournament.

"Unfortunately, he had a bit of twist which aggravated his injury. We have had scans on him which have shown no new injury. However, he doesn't feel 100 percent."

His replacement, Haris, travelled to Australia as a reserve and was brought straight into the XI to face South Africa in Sydney.

The 21-year-old, who made his T20I debut against England in September, has played just 23 T20s in his short career to date, scoring 441 runs at a strike rate of 134.04, including two half-centuries.

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