Haseebullah Khan, wicket keeper batter, has poured cold water on talk that he is abandoning Pakistan cricket, telling fans through an Instagram story that his current stay in England is only for county commitments and sponsorship work.
“I remain fully committed to representing my country, Pakistan, with utmost dedication and passion,” he wrote, adding a polite plea for supporters to ignore “false rumours”.
The clarification came after a viral Facebook post claimed the 22 year old had met England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) agents about a possible change of allegiance.
Within hours, both private news channels and Cricket Pakistan carried his denial, noting that he had travelled on a short term club contract rather than a permanent move.
On paper, Haseebullah’s international record is modest: three T20Is, 36 runs at 12, and a top score of 24. His lone appearance for Quetta Gladiators in this year’s Pakistan Super League yielded seven runs, and his overall T20 career shows 599 runs from 35 matches at a strike‑rate of 118.37.
Yet selectors value his raw power and left handed variety, believing he could grow into a middle order role once he banks more overs in domestic cricket.
Haseebullah Khan and Pakistan’s middle‑order puzzle
Pakistan’s T20 side has been anything but settled since late 2022. A first‑round exit at the 2024 World Cup and shock defeats to Ireland and the United States triggered a clear out of coaches and, more recently, the dismissal of chief selector Wahab Riaz and colleague Abdul Razzaq.
Those upheavals followed the retirements of senior all rounder Mohammad Hafeez in 2022 and former captain Shoaib Malik in 2024, two pillars of Pakistan’s engine room across formats. Their departure left a hole that the PCB has tried to plug with a revolving door of newcomers.
Since 2023, the green shirts have handed T20I debuts to hard hitters such as Jahandad Khan, Tayyab Tahir, Azam Khan and Irfan Khan Niazi, hoping one of them would dominate the middle overs.
Irfan Khan Niazi’s domestic strike rate and Tayyab’s early runs raised expectations, but neither player has yet nailed a permanent place.
Haseebullah entered that churn during Pakistan’s 2024 tour of New Zealand, replacing Mohammad Rizwan for one match.
Selectors liked his clean swing but felt he needed to tighten shot selection and face more high quality spin before becoming the team’s designated finisher, a role Pakistan have struggled to fill since the heyday of Hafeez and Malik.
By nipping online gossip in the bud, the young left‑hander has at least reminded observers that his ambitions remain firmly tied to the star and crescent.
And for a national side still sifting through combinations, that loyalty, and the extra experience he will gain in English county cricket, could be as valuable as runs on the board when selectors sit down to choose their next middle order power hitter.
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